A Massachusetts man accused of killing his girlfriend over the weekend at the home they shared is being held without bail after his arraignment Monday.
As 28-year-old John Devine of Marblehead was arraigned in the death of 51-year-old Tanya Nichols, police say he was arrested last month for assaulting her, adding that he threatened to kill her and didn't cooperate with prosecutors at the time.
According to court documents, a downstairs tenant heard fighting early Saturday morning, including loud noises, banging and people running around. On Sunday morning, a roommate spotted Nichols on the bedroom floor and called 911.
"Officers noted at the scene that there was that pool of blood around Ms. Nichols head, blood-soaked clothes, articles of clothing piled around her head, a rear glass door of the bedroom that was shattered, a lamp resting on the floor, a nightstand table on the floor with legs that had been broken off," Kimberly Gillespie, Essex County Assistant District Attorney, said, describing the crime scene.
After his arrest in nearby Lynn on Sunday, Devine told police Nichols had been harassing and belittling him, and then grabbed him and threw furniture at him. He admitted to throwing a nightstand at Nichols, then leaving the home.
"He doesn't know why they arrested him. They interrogate him. In his state of mind, he's concerned. He doesn't know what's going on," defense attorney John Morris said.
Nichols, a former ballerina with the Boston Ballet, used to run a jewelry store on Newbury Street.
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"She was kind wonderful, took him off the street, stole her cars, beat her to death, and she was in love with him, and that killed her," Sabrina Joyce, Nichols' sister, said, adding, "I wish to God they had the death sentence here, because you don't go and kill a woman that gave you everything she had, sold her things to give you things. What kind of person does that?"
Court documents also show Devine has a lengthy criminal record, ranging from shoplifting to assault and now these allegations.
