‘Neil did not have fair trial’

Convicted killer Neil Entwistle, 34, lost his appeal to the US Supreme Court for a new trial on 14th January.

He was convicted in 2008 of shooting his wife Rachel, 27, and their nine-month-old baby Lillian Rose at their Hopkinton, Massachusetts, home in January 2006.

But his parents Cliff and Yvonne say US authorities are keeping the truth ‘very well hidden’ and have contacted British Foreign Secretary William Hague to seek clemency.

“Our son Neil is innocent and did not receive a fair trial,” they said. “The way he was treated in jail pre-trial by the authorities is too distressing to put into words. All Neil’s human rights were violated.”

The Entwistles say that there are clear discrepancies in their son’s extradition papers from the District Attorney’s Office about his DNA match on the butt of the murder weapon.

“This statement is not true as an oral swab had not been taken from Neil at the time. The word match falsifies the document,” they said.

“In fact, the DA’s office demanded an oral swab be taken from Neil once he had been extradited to go to trial with.”

“In the same papers they mention about Neil’s activity on the house laptop computer. In trial, Neil’s lawyer held up the laptop and said that no fingerprints or DNA had been taken from it. Where then was their proof?” The Entwistles added that Neil was illegally questioned by US Marshals on his flight to the States and that police illegally searched his Hopkinton home in Massachusetts.

“Neil was left completely alone on his flight to the US with ten US marshals. On this flight he was illegally questioned by the marshals as he was not read his Miranda rights,” they said.

“Our home phone lines were hacked into by the American authorities, even though this was illegal according to a letter we received from the Home Secretary answering on behalf of the Prime Minister.”