[The following information is courtesy of the Office of the Attorney General, Middlesex County, MA]
Woburn, MA — February 10, 2009 — Closing arguments in the double-murder trial of Sean Fitzpatrick took place yesterday and the case has gone to the jury. Fitzpatrick, 46, of Freedom, is charged with two counts of murder and illegal possession of a shotgun in connection with the deaths of Michael Zammitti, Jr., 39, and Chester Roberts, 54, both of Wakefield, Massachusetts.
According to authorities, just after 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 13, 2006, Wakefield Police responded to a 911 call from an individual at Allstate Concrete Pumping reporting an unconscious male. Upon arrival at the scene, police discovered the body of Roberts on the first floor of the building, and that of Zammitti in a second floor office. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. Zammitti was the owner of Allstate Concrete Pumping, and Roberts was a longtime employee of the company.
Wakefield Police contacted State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, and together they initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Authorities were able to determine that the shooting occurred sometime between 7:30 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. on March 13, 2006.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (ME) completed autopsies on both victims on March 14, 2006. The ME found the cause of death for Zammitti to be a gunshot wound to the head, and the cause of death for Roberts to be a gunshot wound to the back. The ME ruled both deaths homicides.
After an exhaustive three-month investigation, authorities allege that Fitzpatrick drove to Wakefield from New Hampshire on March 13 and shot the two victims. Fitzpatrick was a friend and neighbor of the Zammitti family, who owned a summer home on Ossipee Lake. Authorities believe that Fitzpatrick was interested in pursuing a relationship with Zammitti’s wife.
New Hampshire State Police arrested Fitzpatrick without incident at his place of employment in Madison, NH, at approximately 12:00 p.m. on June 6, 2006. He was arraigned as a fugitive from justice later that afternoon in the Northern District Court of Carroll County in North Conway. At that time, Fitzpatrick declined to waive rendition and was held pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for June 20, 2006. When brought into court for that hearing on June 20, Fitzpatrick waived rendition.
State Police and Wakefield Police transported Fitzpatrick back to Massachusetts later that afternoon. He was booked, and was arraigned on June 21, 2006 in Cambridge District Court. At arraignment, he pled not guilty and was ordered held without bail. On August 17, 2006, the Grand Jury returned indictments against Fitzpatrick, and on September 7, 2006, Fitzpatrick was arraigned on the superior court charges in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge before Judge Nancy Staffier Holtz. At arraignment he entered a plea of not guilty, and was ordered held without bail.
These charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution team was lead by Assistant District Attorney Dan Bennett and includes Deputy District Attorney Denise Casper and paralegal Jen Bills. The victim witness advocate is Lesia Schymonowytsch.