Contos to stand trial for murders
Published on January 20th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - His lawyer says its a case of fatal attraction. A woman spurned by her lover who refused to accept no for an answer until, eventually, "he simply lost it."
Jury selection started on Tuesday in the case of Stoneham resident Peter Contos who is alleged to have murdered his mistress and her two children in the early morning hours of September 27, 1997.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Richard Grundy, will likely attempt to prove that Contos, 34, who was living on Pond Street at the time along with his wife, was leading a precarious double life, on which eventually caught up to him. In the end, Catherine Rice, 35, and her sons, Bejamin Rice, 4, and Ryan Contos, two months, were murdered, the state contends, as a result of Contos' infidelity. The bodies of the latter two victims were found stuffed into the alleged murderer's foot locker at Otis Air Force Base in Bourne 11 hours into police's search.
According to Contos' attorney, Stephen Hrones, however, the defense strategy has yet to be decided upon. Hrones explained that Contos has already entered a not guilty plea and will likely stand by that until the plaintiff proves otherwise.
When asked by the Stoneham Independent if Contos has admitted his guilt, the attorney refused to comment. Soon after, however, Hrones painted a graphic image of Contos at the time of the murder.
"On the night in question, he simply lost it and the jury will hear about all the incidents that led up to that incident," the attorney said.
The murders were not without provocation, Hrones stated.
"She wanted him at all costs and was intent on ending his marriage in order to be with him. She was obsessed with Peter. She would call him all the time and even talk to his wife. She wanted him and wanted a life with him."
Jury selection for the trial began on Tuesday. eight jurors were selected on the first day. Evidence and witnesses are not expected to be presented until early next week. The trial is expected to last about three weeks.
Prior to jury selection, Hrones failed to earn his client a mistrial after contending that the prosecution had sent a psychiatrist to interview Contos without his attorney's permission. The Boston attorney also failed to persuade Superior Court Judge Robert A. Barton to move the trial from the Middlesex Superior Court. Hrones contended that pretrial publicity could taint his client's defense.
Another area which could be damaging to Contos could be the visit to various sites by the jury once the trial is under way. According to Hrones, among the list of locations will be Otis Air Force Base where Contos has served as an Air Force National Guard technical sergeant. The foot locker where the dead, strangled and bloodied bodies of Ben Rice and Ryan Contos were placed after the murder are sure to have some impact on the jurors.
"We have a problem right there as to the fact that he didn't do it," Hrones told the Independent. "That's (the visit) going to be very tough. That makes it (the defense) quite difficult."
Hrones had made a motion to suppress this visit, but was denied.
On the night of the murder, police believe that Rice had called the home of Contos' in-laws and had spoken to his wife, Robyn Hetu Contos. According to prosecutors, the victim told Contos about her husband's affair and about the fact that he had fathered Rice's two children.
Hrones said that, after learning of this, Contos went into a rage.
"The case is going to turn on what brought about this tragedy and what was building up in Peter throughout the time leading up to the murders," the defense attorney stated.
In an unusual twist, police and prosecutors are said to be in possession of DNA evidence which, they contend, prove that Contos had sexual intercourse with Rice just hours prior to the murder.
Hrones said the defense team is conducting tests of its own to contend these results.
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