THE father of the child dubbed ‘Baby Doe’ when she was found dead in a rubbish bag on an American beach, doesn’t believe the child’s mother had anything to do with her death.I know with all my heart that Rachelle Bond would never, ever do anything to hurt anybody,” Joseph Amoroso said of his former partner.
Ms Bond, 40, is charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder of her daughter Bella Bond, while her boyfriend Michael McCarthy, 35, is charged with murder. The two will face court later today (Australian time).
Mr Amoroso told local television station WHDH-TV that Ms Bond told him Mr McCarthy fatally injured Bella — and he believed her version of events.
“I was with the woman. This is the mother of my child,” he said.
Mr Amoroso and Ms Bond met in a tent at Occupy Boston and broke up after he discovered she had been arrested for prostitution, according to the Boston Herald. He said she that when she told him about their daughter’s death, “She was very emotional, sincere through the whole things, and I believe her.”
He was determined that he would be able to forgive her.
“Somewhere in my heart I’m going to have to find forgiveness and that time will come,” WHDH-TV reported.
It has been reported that Ms Bond told investigators that Mr McCarthy punched her daughter repeatedly in the stomach claiming she was “possessed by demons
There were no signs of trauma to Bella’s body but police believe some sort of stomach injury led to her death.
Another Boston television channel, WBZ-TV, said Rachelle Bond had a history of drug and prostitution arrests. It has also emerged officials from the state’s child protection agency had contact with Bella twice, for four months in 2012 and three months in 2013. In both cases, officials described the involvement as “support for neglect,” and the cases were later closed.
Between 2001 and 2006, the Department of Children and Families terminated parental rights for two of her mother’s older children. One of the children was later adopted by her maternal grandmother; the other was adopted by someone outside the family, officials told the Boston Herald.
The girl was known as Baby Doe as investigators launched a massive social media campaign to find out who she was and how she died.
Police immediately appealed to the public for help. Using photos of her remains, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created a composite image of what the girl might have looked like when she was alive. Within two weeks, the image of the chubby-cheeked, brown-eyed girl had reached an estimated 47 million people on Facebook.
Photos of Bella posted on her mother’s Facebook page made it clear that she looked strikingly similar to the composite image.
Bella’s body was found June 25 inside a rubbish bag on Deer Island in Winthrop by a woman walking a dog.
Despite the widespread publicity, a text tip line and billboards with the girl’s image, investigators were frustrated for months as they tried to learn her identity. They got their big break after Boston police received a tip. A search warrant was executed last Thursday at Ms Bond’s apartment.
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley would not say specifically how her body got to Deer Island, but implied that her mother placed her there. He said evidence investigators uncovered led them to charge her with being an accessory after the fact to murder.
On Rachelle Bond’s Facebook page, she appears to be a doting mother, postingnumerous photos of her daughter, who she calls “Bell” and “monkey.”
In a posting on Aug. 18, 2014, Bond wrote: “My Bella loved her birthday party and all the awesome things she got. Broke the bank on it but it’s all worth it to see her happy and laughing and smiling. Love it.”
A few weeks later, on Sept. 15, 2014, a photo shows Bella wearing a tight-fitting, one-piece romper. “Look at my Bell,” Bond wrote. “The outfit isn’t supposed to be a catsuit ... Love her to death. I am on top of the world because of her. My life is complete again and worth living. I give her the world and more if I can.”
Police chased down tips from around the world, but experts determined pollen on the girl’s blanket and leggings and in her hair came from trees found in New England.
More information is expected to be released after Ms Bond and Mr McCarthy appear in court.
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