Bristol

NEW BEDFORD -- With the election less than two weeks away, the Democratic challenger for district attorney accused incumbent Paul Walsh of "blatant misrepresentation" by claiming he has solved 211 out of 245 murders that have occurred during his 16-year tenure.

Samuel Sutter said his staff tracked all 183 murders that have taken place in Bristol County since Walsh took office in 1991 and found that indictments were sought in 104, leaving 79 unsolved cases through last year.

At least 2 more murders remain unsolved this year, making a total of 81.

Walsh has said that in many cases, the police know the identity of the murderer but they don't have enough evidence to convict.

"A murder cannot be considered solved when the police believe that they have developed probable cause against an individual and the district attorney does nothing," Sutter said.

His comments came at a news conference held yesterday in a parking lot at Weld Square, a troubled area of New Bedford that was frequented by many of the nine women who were murdered in a series of unsolved slayings in the 1980s.

All the women were cocaine or heroin users and many knew each other. At least five were prostitutes. All the bodies were left along area highways.

Sutter said Walsh "chose this area to announce his candidacy" in March of 1990 and promised to solve those murders, but he failed to live up to that pledge.

In fact, Sutter asserted, Walsh turned down a free offer by the state police crime laboratory to find new leads in the case by reanalyzing the evidence in the case -- including DNA, hair and fibers -- using modern techniques.

"The very first action I will take as district attorney will be to pursue that grant so that the evidence in those killings can be reexamined," he vowed.

Sutter said he would do better with homicide investigations through better coordination with other law-enforcement agencies, convincing witnesses that they will be protected, and creating a specialized investigative unit of experienced prosecutors in the district attorney's office to solve murder cases.

"Many of the current assistant district attorneys being called to homicide scenes for Mr. Walsh have little training or experience in investigative techniques, and have never participated in a murder case," Sutter asserted.

The final debate between the two candidates is set for tonight from 7 to 9 at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, 1121 Ashley Blvd.

gemery(at)projo.com / (401) 743-0515