When Worcester police arrived at 27 County St. after receiving a report that a woman had been stabbed inside the townhome, officers found a running truck with keys in its ignition, a license, $80 dollars and a red suitcase in the backseat.
That’s what two Worcester Police Department Crime Scene Investigators testified in Worcester Superior Court Wednesday in the trial of Antonio Lucas, the man accused of stabbing his former girlfriend, Cleucilene Alves da Silva, to death in front of her two friends in May 2019.
Crime scene investigator Jeffrey Fanion testified that when he arrived at 27 County St. on May 31, 2019, he found a blue GMC Sierra pickup truck running with keys in the ignition and the AC turned on. Fanion described the condition of the truck as “meticulous.”
Prosecutors presented a photo of the bed of the truck, which Fanion testified showed a rake, rope and snacks pushed together to the right side of the truck bed. Another photo prosecutors presented showed a snow shovel and garden hoe leaning on a grill roughly 30 feet away from the running truck, Fanion said.
Worcester Police Department Sargeant Eric Boss testified that a license belonging to Lucas and $80 were found inside the truck.
On Tuesday, Worcester Police Officer Diony Nunez testified he noticed a red luggage bag in the truck’s backseat when inspecting the truck.
Lucas came to the townhome’s door wearing a white T-shirt and navy blue shorts, both of which had red and brown stains on them, Worcester Police Officer Michael Cappabianca testified Tuesday.
Those red and brown stains, in fact, were the blood of Alves da Silva, Emily Beach, a civilian forensic scientist with the Worcester Police Department testified Wednesday.
Beach said a test of the red and brown stains found on Lucas’s clothing compared against a sample of Alves da Silva’s blood received a positive match.
A video of the townhome, which showed a 3-D replica of the layout of the home, that was played in court Wednesday showed a large pool of blood in the living room, a trail of blood leading to and through the kitchen and down into the basement.
All along the walls leading down into the basement, blood could be seen smeared. In the basement, Alves da Silva could be seen lying on the floor with her clothes cut off.
When officers found Alves da Silva’s body, she was wrapped in a light grey blanket that had polar bears and penguins on it.
Fanion held that bloodstained blanket up in court Wednesday for jurors to see.
Aves da Silva’s body was moved from the living room, where she was stabbed, down to the basement of the townhome, Fanion testified.
Jurors were shown several photos of Lucas that were taken while he was being processed at the Worcester Police Department following his arrest.
Those photos showed blood on at least one of his hands and on the bottom of both of his feet.
That blood matched a sample of Alves da Silva’s, Nicholas Bradford, a DNA Scientist with the Pennsylvania State Police Department, who performed the DNA testing for the case, testified.
Prosecutors claim Lucas became enraged that Alves da Silva had invited two men — a gay couple — to their house to socialize.
The pair argued and Lucas allegedly told Alves da Silva “I’m going to show you who owns this house” just before he went upstairs and returned moments later with a 23-cm butcher knife.
“He raised the knife and stabbed her,” prosecutors said Tuesday. Lawyers said in one instance, the knife “went through nearly her entire body, only stopping when reaching scapula bone.”
Alves da Silva’s friends fled the house and called police and “begged” officers to come in a call that lasted 8 minutes.
Lucas, who is representing himself on trial, has stand-by counsel and two Portuguese interpreters assisting him.
He did not cross-examine any of the 17 witnesses the commonwealth called on Tuesday and Wednesday. After prosecutors rested their case Wednesday afternoon, Lucas informed Judge James Gavin Reardon, Jr. he did not have any witnesses to call upon and that he did not wish to take the stand.
Closing arguments in the trial will take place Thursday.
Related Content:
- Antonio Lucas trial: Witnesses recall seeing Cleucilene Alves da Silva stabbed to death while visiting her at Worcester townhome
- ‘I’m going to show you who owns this house’: Worcester man allegedly tells girlfriend before deadly stabbing
- Jury selection slated to begin Monday in trial of Worcester man accused of killing Cleucilene Alves da Silva
Ad Choices