Man denies murder count in mother’s slaying

PROVIDENCE — A Cumberland man accused of stabbing his mother to death in late March has entered not-guilty pleas in Superior Court.

Richard Paiva, 36, was indicted in May by a Providence County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, simple assault-third offense and refusal to relinquish a telephone.

He is accused of repeatedly stabbing his mother, Rita Paiva, 57, whose body was discovered early on March 30 in a blood-soaked bed in the house at 64 Baldwin St., in Valley Falls, that is owned by her father, William O’Connor Jr.

The attorney general’s office filed documents stating that if Paiva is convicted, he should be subject to “the imposition of an additional sentence” as a “habitual offender” for past crimes. The document cites 1995 and 1996 felony convictions.

–– Michael P. McKinney

Masked gunman robs sandwich shop

PAWTUCKET — A masked gunman held up a Subway sandwich shop at the Providence line Wednesday night, three days after a similar holdup at a Providence convenience store about 1½ miles away.

Police Maj. Arthur J. Martins said the robber, brandishing a handgun and with a red bandanna covering his face, took $350 from the shop at 612 Pawtucket Ave.

On Sunday night, a man wearing a red bandanna walked into the 6-11 Deli and Mart at 139 Camp St., in Providence, and pulled a gun on a clerk. The gunman took $1,300 and a box of cigars, and fled on Abbott Street, according to a police report. At the same time, someone reported hearing a gunshot and seeing a car with Mississippi license plates flee the area.

— Amanda Milkovits