Southie stabbing shocks neighborhood
ENOUGH: Boston Police work the scene of a home invasion at East 7th Street in South Boston that led to the stabbing death of an elderly woman.
Massachusetts State Senator Jack Hart (right) leaves the scene of a fatal stabbing as Boston Police continue to investigate on East 7th Street in South Boston.
By Laurel J. Sweet and Laurel J. Sweet | laurel.sweet@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 17, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.
South Boston home invasions are at "crisis" levels, former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn said yesterday, after a 67-year-old widow was found stabbed to death in her home with signs of a possible break-in.
"It's a crisis," Flynn said. "It's all precipitated by drugs. The police are doing the best they can, but people have had it."
Barbara C. Coyne, 67, a registered nurse, was found at 10 a.m. inside the three-family townhouse she owned on East 7th Street suffering from a fatal knife wound. Investigators were seen carefully removing a trembling German shorthaired pointer from her apartment. Investigators were photographing a street-level, open window at Coyne's apartment. A lace curtain with a brownish-red stain was fluttering beneath a screen that had been pushed up.
Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for Boston police, cautioned that "the facts and circumstances are unclear as to whether this was a random incident." She said any theory about what may have befallen Coyne "is purely speculative."
Flynn said about the area's rash of break-ins, "This could destroy a neighborhood. You've got to do a little more than fill out a police report. The taxes are high enough. If we're not safe, what's the point?" Flynn's own home was broken into last year, a crime that remains unsolved.
One shaken neighbor of Coyne's said, "We can deal with break-ins, but we've never seen anything like this. Are people getting that desperate?"
Overall crime in South Boston is down 7 percent for the year as of April 8, compared to the same time period in 2011, according to Boston police records. But burglaries are up to 57 so far this year compared to 37 for the same period in 2011. Driscoll said that includes both homes and businesses. Increases were also noted in sexual assaults (up by two), robberies (up by six), and aggravated assaults (up by four). Larcenies were down by 52, car thefts by eight.
Coyne was a graduate of Laboure College in Dorchester, according to her state nursing license.
State Sen. Jack Hart (D-Boston) is a friend of Coyne's family. Rushing to the scene yesterday, he called her a "great woman, a wonderful neighbor and friend. We don't ordinarily see this kind of thing here, so it's shocking to everybody."
State Rep. Nick Collins said, "It's generally a safe neighborhood. This is a great tragedy for our community. I'm confident the police and the district attorney's office will bring this to justice."
Spokesmen for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Mayor Thomas M. Menino did not return calls seeking comment. Coyne's family could not be reached.
Laurel J. Sweet | Reporter
Laurel J. Sweet
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