Family members of a murdered Brockton man made a gruesome discovery last week when they found what the police couldn't.
BROCKTON The hardest thing Joseph Shaws family has gone through was losing their son, brother, uncle and friend. Then, hearing the details of his death in court caused many of them to have to leave and added to their fresh pain.
But what they found later that day inside his apartment made their hearts break even more.
Joseph Shaw, 44, was found stabbed more than 30 times and wrapped in a blanket inside a closet at his home, 42 Green St., on July 21. His girlfriend, 33-year-old Kathryn Podgurski led police to the body and told them he had been there for about a week. She claimed Shaw was killed in a different location during an armed home invasion and that she helped move the body there, but didnt call police because the supposed suspects would have killed her.
Podgurski was first charged as an accessory after murder, but was later charged with killing Shaw during her arraignment in Brockton District Court. During that court appearance, family members burst into tears as Assistant District Attorney Richard Linehan said investigators found Shaw had been partially dismembered.
The body was also found to be missing the lower left portion of the leg and the right arm below the elbow, Linehan said. It should be noted that the severed limbs have still not been recovered.
That was until later that day, when Shaws family went to his Green Street apartment last Monday afternoon to retrieve some of his belongings. Family members noticed a backpack with blood on it. When they opened it, they discovered Shaws missing limbs inside.
The Plymouth County district attorneys office confirmed that family found what appears to be the missing limb portions, but havent discussed how investigators missed the bag.
David Procopio, a spokesman for state police, the agency responsible for investigating homicides in the city, also confirmed the discovery.
I can confirm that members of Mr. Shaws family did locate partial remains in his apartment, he said.
But he said the department plans to wait until after the trial to decide whether to perform an internal review into how the mishap occurred.
The Massachusetts State Police currently are focused on the ongoing investigation and prosecution of his homicide, he said. As such, there is no departmental review underway at this time of the victims familys discovery.
But two former law enforcement officials told The Enterprise that the discovery of Shaws remains by his family, rather than police, is cause for concern.
Thats bad police work, its real unfortunate, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York City Police Department detective sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The supervisor, whoever he or she is, should be removed from that unit. How do you miss a backpack? You cant afford to have sloppy police work in the crime scene unit.
In its Crime Scene Investigation guide, the National Forensic Science Technology Center describes methods for crime scene searches and says, The thorough search of a crime scene helps ensure that all relevant evidence will be recognized, documented and collected. It calls the handling of physical evidence one of the most important factors of the investigation.
Mitch Librett, a criminal justice professor at Bridgewater State University and former New York police officer, called it extremely unusual for investigators to miss such a large piece of evidence. But he said he doesnt consider it an O.J. Simpson glove moment in the case.
There could be a perfectly logical explanation for it, we just dont know all the facts, he said. But if in fact they conducted a thorough search of the apartment and didnt discover these body parts, its going to open the door for other questions.
The officials both said it will bring on additional questioning when the case goes to trial, particularly for the state and Brockton police investigators who examined the scene.
Its not going to affect the outcome of the case, but its going to take them a longer time to get there, Giacalone said. There will be a lot of drilling on stand, embarrassment a lot of things that could have been avoided. They had one chance to do the crime scene right, this isnt the playground.
And they also both said it will open the door for the defense attorney to question the thoroughness of the investigation. Podgurski is represented by attorney David Sorrenti, who recently represented a city man ultimately found not guilty in a homicide trial.
Maybe the other body parts werent there when they searched the place, Librett said. God only knows at this point whether or not this is something the police missed or whether its something that was deposited there following the police releasing the apartment as a crime scene. Thats something the defense attorney will explore.
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How will family's discovery of remains affect Brockton murder case? - Enterprise News