A convicted assassin charged with utilizing a heavy piece of weightlifting tools to savagely beat a Bay State jail guard thought the assault would get him returned to his dwelling state of Virginia, a prosecutor mentioned in courtroom.
Roy Booth, 40, pleaded not responsible in Middlesex Superior Court Thursday to prices together with armed assault with intent to homicide in reference to the Aug. 31 assault on Corrections Officer Matthew Tidman at Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Shirley.
Tidman spent greater than a month within the hospital in a coma with extreme head accidents and continues to get well at a rehabilitation facility, in response to a consultant of his union.
“Matt, over the last couple of weeks, has made some pretty good headway in the recovery process,” Kevin Flanagan of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union mentioned exterior of courtroom. “He’s rehabilitating now, he is moving a little bit up and around, walking, and eating. So we’re very happy with the progress that he has made, but it’s a very long road with many surgeries ahead of him.”
Tidman, 36, was monitoring the recreation space on the medium safety facility when he was struck a number of instances with a steel pole the suspect had unscrewed from the weightlifting equipment, authorities mentioned. Other guards got here to his support.
The pole was about 2 toes (61 centimeters) lengthy and weighed 5 to six kilos (2.3 to 2.7 kilograms), Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brant mentioned on the arraignment. Authorities had beforehand mentioned it was heavier.
“Mr. Booth had made statements previous to this incident that he was looking for a way to get back to Virginia, that one of the ways he could get back to Virginia is if he hurts someone,” Brant mentioned.
Booth was held with out bail, despite the fact that he’s already serving a life sentence. His public defender declined remark exterior of courtroom.
Booth was transferred to Massachusetts in March 2021 below the Interstate Corrections Compact, prosecutors have mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”