Thursday, July 16, 2009

Randolph man accused in murder-suicide attempt held without bail



GateHouse News Service
Posted Jul 16, 2009 @ 11:49 AM

QUINCY —

Although recovering from burns over 85 percent of his body, Mikelange St. Paul still presents a “real, imminent and continuing threat” to the woman and child he’s accused of trying to burn to death, a District Court judge said.

St. Paul, 41, of Randolph, will continue to be held without bail after a dangerousness hearing Wednesday before Judge Mark Coven in Quincy District Court.

He will be held in a secure section of the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain.

The fire occurred Nov. 24 in St. Paul’s basement apartment at 29 Reed St. His girlfriend, 31, and her 3-year-old son were also hospitalized with burns, but have recovered.

Police reports say St. Paul believed his girlfriend was cheating on him and that he tried to kill her, himself and her son by soaking a mattress with gasoline and setting fire to it.

St. Paul spent three weeks in critical condition. He had been recovering at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston before Wednesday’s hearing on whether he would be a danger to others if released on bail while awaiting trial.

Judge Coven said Norfolk County prosecutor Elizabeth Walston provided no direct evidence that St. Paul had started the fire in the couple’s bedroom, but circumstantial evidence indicated “that it was his desire that they all perish in the fire, including himself.”

Randolph police Detective Richard Lucey testified that St. Paul was seen taking a 5-gallon gasoline container from the Waltham garage where he was working on the day of the fire.

That night, St. Paul allegedly pressured his girlfriend to have sex and insisted that her son remain in the room. Afterward, he told her, “You will not have sex with anyone again after tonight,” according to a police report on file with the court.

The woman said St. Paul went into the bathroom returning within moments, and when she rolled over, she saw flames rising from the bed, the report says.

According to the woman’s account, St. Paul lunged on top of her and began punching her in the face. She broke free and ran, returning to wrest control of the child from St. Paul, who allegedly pulled the boy close to him in the flames. The woman won the struggle and she and her son ran out of the apartment.

Firefighters rushed St. Paul to Massachusetts General Hospital.

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