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State Police Investigators Testify in Bella Bond Trial

Jurors in the Bella Bond trial heard a chilling audio recording of state police interrogating her alleged killer for the first time on Thursday afternoon.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joel Balducci, the last witness for prosecutors in the case, said when Baby Doe was identified as 2-year-old Bella Bond in September 2015, he was tasked with tracking down Michael McCarthy.

McCarthy, on trial for first-degree murder in Bella Bond's death, had been living with the little girl's mother Rachelle Bond.

Balducci testified on the stand that he found McCarthy at Beth Israel Hospital, where the defendant was recovering from surgery at the time, after receiving a tip that McCarthy might have been the person who killed Bella Bond and disposed of her body. He recorded the hospital interview, which lasted about 30 minutes, Balducci said.

In the recording, McCarthy told Balducci he didn't consider Rachelle Bond his girlfriend, and that he didn't know where she was after getting into an argument days prior. McCarthy also claimed Rachelle Bond was upset when Bella Bond was supposedly taken by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

"I'm surprised because she seemed to be a really good, good mother Rachelle, she really did," McCarthy said.

However, jurors heard Balducci tell McCarthy that Bella Bond was not in the child welfare agency's custody, and that Rachelle Bond was telling investigators a different story.

Balducci told McCarthy he was worried where Bella Bond was, and McCarthy was in agreement.

When asked why Rachelle Bond would tell investigators McCarthy would hurt her baby, McCarthy denied her version of the story.

Earlier in the day, state police Sgt. David Crouse returned to the stand to review his cell tower analysis and phone call records for McCarthy and Rachelle Bond.

Recently retired state police trooper Scott Mackenzie, a member of the state police's underwater recovery team, also took the stand Thursday to testify about how he found a green, military-style duffle bag and weights in September 2015 in the Reserved Channel in South Boston. Bella Bond's body was found washed ashore on Deer Island in June 2015.

McCarthy's ex-girlfriend, Taryn Devlin, testified on Wednesday that they would hang out in several locations near McCarthy's Second Street home in South Boston. One of the locations she cited is the same area where Rachelle Bond testified that McCarthy dumped Bella Bond's body.

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The prosecution has also made a motion to add involuntary manslaughter to the verdicts the jury can weigh during deliberations; however, the judge hasn't decided yet whether she'll allow the prosecution's motion.

The jury could get the case next week.

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