Commonwealth v. Jones

After a jury trial in the Superior Court on an indictment charging murder in the first degree, the defendant was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. We affirm.

The offense occurred on or about July 2, 1975, at which time the defendant was sixteen years old, and the victim was fourteen years old. The victim was initially believed to have died from natural causes, namely a viral heart infection, or myocarditis. In 1997, the victim’s body was exhumed and a new autopsy was conducted by Dr. Richard Evans, chief of the medical examiner’s office.1 Evans testified that the photographs taken in 1975…