WEYMOUTH ‒ Newly released findings in a Weymouth homicide investigation reveal that police visited the Weymouth home several times before finding the body of Christine Mello, 56.
Other newly released details from prosecutors include:
- Mello was stabbed in the head and hit with "blunt force," according to the medical examiner.
- Her roommate lied to police during several wellness checks for her, prosecutors allege.
- A grand jury is looking at charges related to Mello's death.
- Mello had recently inherited money after her mother's death and her roommate knew this, prosecutors say.
Mello's body, discovered in the basement of her Lake Street home in April, shows signs of "blunt force trauma" to the back of her head and a "laceration consistent with stab wounds inflicted behind the ear," according to the documents filed at Dedham Superior Court.
The filing is based on preliminary findings by the state medical examiner's office.
Though police had searched the basement before Mello's body was discovered, "items covering and wrapped around" the body prevented them from finding it, according to prosecutors' summary of the case.
In early April, police arrested two "persons of interest" in what the Norfolk County district attorney's office described as Mello's apparent homicide.
Mello's roommate, Kelli Shaw, 44, and John Harper, 45, both originally from Quincy, were charged with using Mello's bank cards to make purchases and withdrawals in February and March, a period when Mello was reported missing by family and friends. They were also charged with stealing and selling Mello's 2017 Buick Lacrosse.
Shaw and Harper have been indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury on larceny and motor vehicle larceny charges.
Neither has been charged with crimes related to Mello's death. They are being held on $50,000 cash bail each.
A grand jury is reviewing evidence related to Mello's death, according to prosecutors' June 27 statement of their allegations.
In addition to larceny and motor vehicle larceny, authorities charged Shaw with misleading investigators. Shaw, who moved in with Mello in January, repeatedly told police that she was out and that she had a new boyfriend, authorities say.
Police had visited Mello's home for well-being checks throughout March, Assistant District Attorneys Lisa Beatty and Christine Cullinan wrote.
"Police searched ... for the new boyfriend, eventually concluding that he did not exist," the statement of the case reads.
The state's allegations against Shaw and Harper
Prosecutors suggest that Mello's inheritance of her late mother's wealth indirectly led to her death.
Nina Mello, who died Jan. 3, made her daughter, Christine, the sole beneficiary of her estate, Beatty and Cullinan wrote. Two uncles acted as executors, writing Christine Mello a $2,000 check monthly to pay her rent.
When Shaw moved into Mello's home in mid-January, she learned of her new roommate's financial situation, according to prosecutors. On Feb. 25, Harper, a friend of Shaw's, began to stay at the home as well.
From Feb. 26 to March 25, Shaw and Harper used two of Mello's bank accounts as well as her Department of Transitional Assistance account to make more than $2,300 worth of withdrawals and purchases from stores in Abington, Weymouth and Quincy, Beatty and Cullinan wrote, citing video evidence of the defendants engaged in the transactions.
On Feb. 27, Shaw deposited a $2,000 check made out to Mello from her mother's estate at Quincy Credit Union and did the same on March 20 at Eastern Bank, according to prosecutors.
Also in March, Harper sold Mello's Buick Lacrosse to a Quincy man for $2,000 cash, Beatty and Cullinan wrote, adding that Shaw was aware of the sale because she "later asked (the buyer) to sell the car back so that she did not have to continue to take Ubers."
What is Shaw's defense lawyer saying?
In a motion to reduce Shaw's bail, defense attorney Neil Madden said Shaw has denied any knowledge of Mello's death.
"Yet she remains an uncharged suspect," Madden wrote.
Shaw's bail was originally set at $100,000 and has since been reduced to $50,000. Madden has argued that even $50,000 doesn't match the crimes she's been charged with and amounts to holding her without bail given her poverty.
Madden asked the court to reset the bail below $5,000. Dedham Superior Court Judge Michael Cahillane set the amount at $50,000.
Shaw and Harper are due back in Dedham Superior Court on Aug. 12 for a pretrial conference.
Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
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