Man accused in slayings of Graham couple never charged in Massachusetts death, former DA says

BOSTON — The man accused of killing a Washington state couple just a few months after being freed from a Massachusetts prison led authorities to a woman's remains in Fall River while he was incarcerated, but was never charged in her death, according to a former district attorney.

Former Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh told The Boston Globe that Daniel Tavares contacted State Police in 2000 and told them he knew where to find Gayle Botelho, a 32-year-old woman who disappeared in 1988.

Walsh said after interviewing Tavares several times in prison, authorities dug up Botelho's remains in the backyard of a house that Tavares had identified in Fall River, about 50 miles south of Boston.

The grave was across the street from Botelho's residence and the yard of the house where Tavares was living before pleading guilty to manslaughter after stabbing his mother to death in 1991, the Globe reported.

Tavares, 41, told investigators that he was there when two acquaintances killed Botelho after a wild party. Authorities questioned the two men and Tavares, but never had enough evidence to charge anyone, Walsh said.

"The mere knowledge that this guy knew where she was buried can lead you to all sorts of conjecture about it, but at the end of the day, you need some evidence," said Walsh, who held office from 1991 to 2006, when he lost a bid for re-election.

Walsh said Tavares' motives for coming forward were unclear.

The Globe reported that investigators have begun re-examining the Botelho slaying since Tavares' arrest in the Nov. 17 shootings of Beverly Mauck, 28, and Brian Mauck, 30, in Graham, Pierce County.

Tavares told police he killed the couple after Brian Mauck insulted him when Tavares came to his house to collect a $50 debt.

Tavares served 16 years for manslaughter after killing his mother. After his sentence ended, authorities attempted to have Tavares held on bail on charges of assaulting two prison guards while in prison. But Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman freed him on personal recognizance in July. Tavares then fled to Washington.

The killings have become an issue in the Republican presidential campaign, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney calling for the resignation of Tuttman, whom he appointed, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani citing the case as an example of Romney's poor crime-fighting record.