Chhoeut Chin | Homicide Watch Boston

Chin sentenced to life in prison for domestic violence murder

Gail Waterhouse — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:05:54 -0400

A Lynn man who killed his ex-girlfriend in 2013 and dumped her body in an East Boston parking garage, has been sentenced to life in prison.

On Monday, a jury convicted Chhoeut Chin, 43, of the second-degree murder of 32-year-old Sherry Leigh Bradley. A judge sentenced him on Wednesday after Bradley's daughter delivered a victim impact statement to the court.

Chin and Bradley, who also lived in Lynn, had been in an abusive relationship in the spring and summer of 2013. Trial testimony revealed that Chin threatened, harassed and abused Bradley, and began stalking her and waiting outside the home where she moved in late July.

On the night of July 31, Bradley was hanging out in her home with a friend when she left to get food, but never returned. On the morning of Aug. 1, a blue Mazda entered an East Boston parking garage, and .

Although investigators were never able to establish where Bradley was murdered, they built a case around Chin that included surveillance video footage, witness statements and cellphone records. Officials ruled Bradley's death a homicide in 2014, and Chin was indicted for her murder.

In court, Bradley's daughter, who is now 16 years old, called Chin an "evil man" and recalled the pain of burying her mother.

"No child should have to see her mother like that," the girl said. "I try my hardest to make my mom proud. It was not her time. It was too soon."

A second-degree murder conviction comes with a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 or more years. Judge Jeffrey Lock set Chin's parole eligibility at 20 years.

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley reminds victims of domestic abuse and violence that they should call 911 in an emergency, but there are also other resources available:

SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages.

Murder trial begins for man accused of strangling ex-girlfriend

Gail Waterhouse — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:10:14 -0400

By Matt Ingersoll

Opening statements began Tuesday in the first-degree murder trial of a Lynn man accused of stalking and fatally strangling his ex-girlfriend before dumping her body in an East Boston parking garage in 2013.

Prosecutors say Chhoeut Chin, 43, killed Sherry Leigh Bradley, 32, also of Lynn, sometime between the late evening hours of July 31 and the early morning hours of Aug. 1, 2013. Bradley’s body was found by a maintenance worker at about 9:20 a.m. Aug. 1, having suffered a fractured neck, a contusion to her skull, and bruises to her throat. Investigators believe Bradley’s body had been dumped just mere minutes earlier.

Murder indictments against Chin were not handed down until September 2014.

In a full courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin explained to the jury that Chin and Bradley had begun a romantic relationship sometime in the late spring or early summer of 2013 after meeting through mutual heroin dealers. The two of them lived together on and off for a short period of time, but Zabin said it soon became apparent that there was a pattern in which Chin would repeatedly harass and threaten Bradley whenever she tried to leave him or end their relationship.

Zabin described to the jury the events of July 31, 2013, the last day Bradley was seen alive. That night, she had plans to hang out and get high with her friend Christopher Schmidt at his Lynn home. At some point, Zabin said she told Schmidt she was going to go out to get something to eat, but once she did, she never returned.

Early the next morning, Zabin said video surveillance footage from a parking garage at 800 Border St. in East Boston picked up a blue Honda Civic driving in just minutes before Bradley’s body was discovered. The video showed the car backing into the spot next to where she was found. Because Bradley was found without any form of identification, police detectives who were called in were not able to identify her until the next day, which they did through her fingerprints.

Zabin said upon the police’s review of the surveillance footage, it became obvious to them that the blue Honda Civic was somehow involved – a car that officers later found was registered to Chin.

Car registration records as well as police interviews with members of Bradley’s family all connected the investigation to Chin, Zabin said. But when he was brought in for police interrogation and given a photo of Bradley, Chin allegedly told investigators he had “never seen this person before” in his life.

During the defense’s opening statements, attorney Brian Kelley argued that no physical, biological or DNA evidence connected Chin to Bradley’s disappearance or murder, including after his car had been searched. Kelley also said that there was not one single witness who could testify with confirmation that he or she had seen Chin assault Bradley. Kelley tried to discredit upcoming prosecution witnesses by calling them “drug dealers” and “drug addicts,” and argued that police detectives jumped to conclusions too quickly by focusing their investigation solely on Chin.

The first witness after opening statements was Bradley's father. Michael Bradley, 57, of Lynn, a self-employed construction worker, testified that he had only met Chin a few times while Chin and his daughter were in a relationship, all of which had occurred in the last few months leading up to her murder.

Mr. Bradley testified of the first and only instance of when he and Chin were formally introduced, at a Fourth of July barbecue at his Lynn home on July 3, 2013 just one month before his daughter was murdered. During that exchange, Mr. Bradley described Chin as being friendly and complimentary, and according to him, was known by the street name “T.”

Mr. Bradley said that on Aug. 2, Boston police detectives arrived at his home to bring him the news that his daughter had been found murdered. One day later, on Aug. 3, he testified of speaking to Christopher Schmidt, who showed him text messages on his phone exchanged between him and his daughter. The nature of these text messages was not discussed in open court Tuesday.

Judge Jeffrey Locke told the jurors that Chin’s trial is likely to last at least two weeks. A jury of 16 members was originally selected, but one juror was excused from empanelment just prior to the opening statements due to an unrelated personal issue.

One Year Later, Boyfriend Arrested for Murder of Sherry Bradley

Kelsey Luing — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 15:24:16 -0400

**Update (8/18/2014): Chin was arraigned Monday, Aug. 18, on count of murder in East Boston Municipal Court and is currently being held without bail. He will return to court on Sept. 17, 2014.**

Boston police have arrested a Lynn man in connection with the 2013 homicide of Sherry L. Bradley, 32, also of Lynn.

Chhoeut Chin, 42, was taken into custody on Friday, Aug. 14, and is described by police as Bradley's former boyfriend.

Bradley's body was found near 800 Border St. in East Boston on August 1, 2013, and the medical examiner ruled her death a homicide in April of this year. The manner of her death has not yet been released.

Bradley, a Lynn native, was an administrative assistant and mother of four. She enjoyed singing, dancing and especially spending time with her family.

A press release from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office below.

Aug. 18, 2014

2013 Death Ruled a Homicide; Suspect Held Without Bail

DV Murder Conviction Affirmed in Unrelated Case

(BOSTON) — A man once described as “stalker-like” in his relationship with 32-year-old Sherry Leigh Bradley was held without bail more than a year after she was found dead in an East Boston parking garage, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

CHHOEUT CHIN (D.O.B. 4/12/72) of Lynn was arraigned today in East Boston Municipal Court on one count of murder. At the request of Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee, deputy chief of the DA’s Homicide Unit, Judge John E. McDonald ordered him held without bail.

Lee told the court that Bradley, also a Lynn resident, was found dead by a cleaning crew on the floor of a Border Street parking garage on the morning of Aug. 1, 2013. Though the cause and manner of her death were not immediately determined, Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors have been investigating the fatality since that time and learned that she had been in a relationship with Chin.

The relationship, Lee said, was marked by reports of “stalker-like behavior” and documented threats to kill her. In April of this year, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide by asphyxiation.

Lee told the court that Chin entered the garage at 800 Border St. at about 9:00 a.m. in a blue Honda with distinctive aftermarket parts and repair work. He spent about 15 minutes there, Lee said, before depositing Bradley’s body on the ground, looking around, and leaving the scene. No other vehicles were in the area of the garage during this time.

The cleaning crew came across Bradley’s body less than 10 minutes after he left. They had been in the same area at about 8:30 that morning and did not notice anything amiss at that time.

When interviewed, Chin allegedly told police that he didn’t know Bradley – a statement contradicted by witnesses who claimed to have seen the two of them in Chin’s distinctive vehicle the day before she was found dead.

In as unrelated case of fatal domestic violence, the state’s highest court today affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of JOSE TORRES (D.O.B. 11/13/81) in the 2008 strangulation and stabbing death of 29-year-old Melissa Santiago.

The Supreme Judicial Court found no merit to Torres’ claims in an appeal of his 2009 conviction under the theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty. A neighbor discovered Santiago’s body in a pool of blood with an extension cord wrapped around her neck and a slash wound to her throat after the two oldest children, then ages 6 and 5, appeared at the neighbor’s apartment and told her that their mother was dead.

Chin was represented by attorney Brian Kelley and will return to court on Sept. 17. Torres was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Deakin and his conviction was defended by Assistant District Attorney Donna Patalano. He was represented on appeal by attorney Emmanuel Howard.