Wrongful death suit alleges ‘veneer’ of security at South Boston condo where doctors were slain
Boston Globe
By Nicole Fleming and Maria Cramer
07 August 2017

141 Dorchester Avenue, where two doctors were murdered in their penthouse condo in May 2017.

The families of two doctors who were murdered in their South Boston penthouse condo in May have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the trust that owns the building, the building’s management and security companies, and the company that formerly provided security for the building and employed the man accused of killing the doctors.

a “veneer” of security

The complaint alleges that a “veneer” of security allowed Bampumim Teixeira, 30, of Chelsea, a past employee of the luxury Macallen Building’s previous security company, to enter the condo and hold Richard Field and Lina Bolaños hostage before killing them. The complaint lists a number of security issues, and alleges that a security guard working at the front desk on the day of the killings took about 20 minutes to call 911 after receiving a call about a gunman in the doctors’ condo.

On the evening of May 5, police found the doctors’ bodies in their condo, with their hands bound and throats slit. Teixeira was shot and wounded by police, who was formally indicted for the slayings in June. The prosecutor suggested at the arraignment that the motive was “in part” robbery.

Robert Pierce, the lawyer representing the victims’s loved ones, said family and friends of Field and Bolaños want the doctors remembered for the friendships they formed and the bonds they had with their patients, not the way they died.

“The tragedy is you have a very high-end building . . . that has the look of a secure building but clearly is not,” Pierce said. “How [Teixeira] got on to the 11th floor is still not known, but it should not have happened. And if [the building] had adequate protection and security, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Laying out a timeline for the events of May 5, the complaint alleges that Teixeira was seen “lurking outside” the Macallen Building before 3 p.m. and entered the building through the garage around 3:50 p.m.

the defendants provided virtually no security for its residents whatsoever

“Despite the appearance of operating a secure property, in fact, the defendants provided virtually no security for its residents whatsoever,” said attorneys in the complaint. “For example, one can enter the garage with ease by simply walking from the street when the garage door is opened by a resident who is either entering or leaving the [b]uilding’s garage in their vehicle.”

And while there is a camera directed at the garage doors, the feed is only viewable in real time by a front-desk security guard who has other responsibilities besides monitoring it, the complaint alleges.

Meanwhile, the staircase that provides access to all floors was not locked that day, according to the complaint.

Field texted a friend around 7:46 p.m., indicating that a gunman was in his condo, but the recipient did not see the text until about 8:15 p.m.

The recipient’s friend called the front desk of the building and implored a security guard — an employee of Highbridge Concierge, the company that took over the building’s security earlier this year — to check on Field and Bolaños, the complaint alleges. But “sometime later,” the recipient’s friend called the same security guard, who said that he had not gone to the unit and was instead still checking his notes.

Around 8:38 p.m., the caller and the security guard both called 911. When Boston police arrived, officers found the doctors had been murdered.

The Macallen Building had advertised 24-hour concierge and security services, the complaint alleges. Field purchased the 11th-floor unit in 2013 for $1,945,000.

Teixeira became an employee of Palladion Services, a concierge and security company, in October 2015 and worked for Palladion at the Macallen Building “for a period of time,” according to the complaint.

“Because of his training with Palladion, Teixeira was fully familiar with the layout of the [b]uilding, and was also aware that there was virtually no meaningful security for the residents,” the complaint stated.

Teixeira was already a wanted man at the time of his hire by Palladion. He had robbed a downtown Boston branch of Citizens Bank in August 2014 and then robbed it again in June 2016.

Police contacted Palladion based on a statement by a former coworker who recognized Teixeira from surveillance photos. Palladion vice president Paul Chicarello pulled a file and identified Teixeira as the culprit from the photos, leading to his arrest, the Globe previously reported.

Teixeira pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the Suffolk County House of Correction. According to the complaint, he was released around March or April 2017.

In early 2017, Highbridge Concierge took over the Macallen Building’s concierge and security services, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that upon learning Teixeira was a convicted bank robber, Palladion never informed Highbridge, the Bayberry Management company, which manages the building, the Court Square Press Building Condominium Trust, which owns the building; or residents, despite the security implications.

Patrick Knight, the founder of Highbridge Concierge, declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. Representatives from Bayberry Management company and Court Square Press Building Condominium Trust could not immediately be reached.

The 11-page complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court seeks a jury trial on 12 counts against Palladion, Highbridge, Bayberry, and the trust — one each for wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, and negligence. The complaint does not specify an amount, but requests “all damages available” under the state’s wrongful death statute, including funeral expenses, loss of income to the next of kin and loss of companionship, as well as costs associated with the lawsuit, interest, and punitive damages.

New details emerge on penthouse murders
The wrongful death lawsuit against the McAllen Buildings’ management and security companies describes lax security procedures that permitted Bampumim Teixeira, a 30-year-old Chelsea man, to kill doctors Lina Bolaños and Richard Field in their luxury South Boston condo.

2:40 pm	Teixeira seen lurking around the Macallen building.
	Tenants with vehicles access the building through the parking garage entrance on Foundry Street. From there they have elevator access to their floor. Teixeira entered here and accessed the staircase to the 11th floor.

3:50 pm	Teixeira sneaks into the Macallen building garage.
5:00 pm	Dr. Lina Bolaños returns home.
6:30 pm	Dr. Richard Field returns home.
7:46 pm	Dr. Field texts a friend and indicates a gunman is in the unit.
8:15 pm	The friend does not notice the text message until about 30 minutes later but immediately calls the front desk of the building, speaks to a security guard, and asks him to check on the safety of the occupants.
	Sometime later The friend calls the security guard again. The guard advises him he has not gone to check on doctors Fields and Balaños.
8:38 pm	The caller and the security guard both call 911.
8:48 pm	Police arrive at the unit and find keys outside the door. They shout, hear no response, and use keys to enter.
	Gunfire erupts. Teixeira is shot in the abdomen, leg, and hand.
	The victims are found with their hands bound and throats slit. A backpack filled with jewelry is discovered inside the door.

Comments
By themselves, CCTV cameras scare off the less determined bad guys but on their own, they do not provide adequate security. They show what happened in the past but is is rare that anyone is regularly watching the monitors "live". After all, at most condos, the concierge has to deal with many other duties that are assigned to him and cannot constantly view up to 20 different video monitors.

The two major security breakdowns I see here are:
1. Why didn't the staircases have locks on all the stairwell doors?
2. The guard didn't act immediately when Mr. Field's friend phoned.
3. Waiting 18 minutes was inexcusable!

—CondoMadness

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