Lina Bolanos and Richard Field, who were engaged, reportedly had throats slashed at their home where a ‘message of retribution’ was also found

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Two doctors found dead this weekend inside the penthouse of a luxury condominium building in Boston most likely knew their killer, police have said.

Lina Bolanos and Richard Field, who were engaged, were found dead on Friday night by police at the Macallen Building in South Boston and police say they believe the man suspected of their deaths knew them. Boston police have not said how the couple were killed or provided a motive in the case but the Boston Globe reported that the doctors’ throats were slashed and each of them had their hands tied.

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It is possible that the victims knew their assailant, as the condominium had tight security and there was a “message of retribution” written on a wall of the apartment, the Boston Globe reported.

Bolanos, 38, was a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, according to its website, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Field, 49, also an anesthesiologist, worked at North Shore Pain Management.

Police had gone to the building on a report of a man with a gun. Police commissioner William Evans said the suspect opened fire when officers confronted him at the door. He said police fired back and hit the man several times.

After the shootings, the suspect was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The officers were not hurt.

Authorities expect to file multiple charges against 30-year-old Bampumim Teixeira, of Chelsea. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday. The Suffolk county district attorney’s office said Teixeira has a pair of larceny convictions on his record. In June of last year, Teixeira passed a note demanding money at a Boston bank. He committed the same crime two years earlier.

AndreaWBZ (@AndreaWBZ) South Boston murder victims identified. Dr Richard Field and his fiancé Dr Lina Bolanos. pic.twitter.com/HNtiLkWIkN

The office did not know on Sunday if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk district attorney Daniel Conley, said he did not know what charges Teixeira would face, but Evans told local media that two murder charges were likely.

On its Facebook page, North Shore Pain Management called Field “instrumental in the creation of this practice” and that his death “leaves an inescapable void in all of us”.

Bolanos’ godfather, Michael Gibbs, told The Boston Globe that she and Field were “good, kind, gentle people”.

“Hopefully, this guy that they caught will be able to say who he is and why this was done,” Gibbs said. “That’s all we’re hoping, is to get some kind of information. Why did this happen?”

On behalf of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, chief executive John Fernandez expressed sadness over the deaths of both doctors.

“The entire Mass. Eye and Ear community is deeply saddened by the deaths of Dr. Lina Bolanos and her fiance,” he said on the practice’s website. “Dr Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague in the prime of both her career and life.”

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report