A man is now being charged with murder in the death of a Lawrence, Massachusetts, mother whose body was found in a park days after she was reported missing, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The Essex County district attorney had previously said murder charges were expected in the death of Carol Flaz-Burgos, pending the completion of an autopsy. That autopsy has now been completed, and Cristian Montero, who was previously charged with witness intimidation, has now been charged with murder, the DA's office said.
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Montero, Flaz-Burgos' neighbor, is due to face the murder charge at an arraignment in Lawrence District Court Wednesday afternoon.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to prosecutors for more on what the autopsy found.
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Flaz-Burgos was found dead in the Kenoza Lake Conservation Area a week ago. The 37-year-old was last seen on surveillance camera days earlier while entering Montero's apartment in the building where she lived with her children and mother, prosecutors previously said in court. She made "the sign of the cross when she entered," an assistant DA said, but was never seen exiting.
However, data from her cellphone showed it began moving away from the apartment building on Broadway at the same time Montero was seen leaving it "with a wagon, a beach cart, that appeared to be filled with clothes," prosecutors said. Her phone started moving toward Haverhill.
Authorities haven't said what relationship Flaz-Burgos and Montero may have had.
Montero, 35, allegedly misled investigators about where he was in the time frame of Flaz-Burgos' disappearance. Prosecutos said that, in two different interviews, he said he drove to a barbershop, parking on Trenton Street, but never went in because he was feeling sick. But city cameras showed he didn't park on Trenton Street at the time, and data from his cellphone allegedly shows him in Haverhill when he said he was parked in Lawrence.
A not guilty plea was entered on Montero's behalf, and a court-appointed attorney asked the judge for time to investigate the claims made by the prosecution.
