MA Supreme Judicial Court Upholds Attleboro Murder Conviction

ATTLEBORO, MA — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court released a decision Tuesday upholding the conviction of a man accused of killing a resident of an Attleboro sober house in 2011.

Matthew Gumkowski, 39, of West Warwick, who was convicted of killing 50-year-old Joseph Kilrowfiled, filed an appeal arguing that his 2014 murder conviction should be vacated due to unlawfully obtained cellphone records and the trial counsel's failure to object to faulty jury instructions.

Prosecutors argued Gumkowski robbed Kilrow before beating, strangling, and stabbing him to death. Gumkowski was arrested two days after the murder on breaking and entering charges and became a suspect after police tested drops of blood found on his shoes that was determined to match Kilrow's.

At trial, Gumkowski said he and Kilrow had a fight over money the night of the murder, but that Kilrow was alive when he left. However, a medical examiner testified that Kilrow was already dead or near death when he was stabbed.

Gumkowski was charged with first degree murder in a second trial after the first ended in a mistrial due to the jury being unable to reach a verdict.

In response to Gumkowski's appeal, the court determined this week that the cell phone records did not contribute to the verdict or lead to him becoming a suspect and therefore the error was harmless.

The court also disagreed with Gumkowski's assertion that the trial counsel failed to object to errors in the judge's instruction, arguing that the judge properly instructed the jury that proof beyond a reasonable doubt is necessary for every element of the offense.

Gumkowski was also found guilty of killing 42-year old Michael DiRaimo by a Providence County Superior Court in 2016 and is now serving double life sentences.