Man accused of killing mother, ex-girlfriend

NBC 10 NEWS
Published: January 7, 2009

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—A New Bedford man was ordered held without bail Wednesday in the killings of his mother and his ex-girlfriend.

Gary Gomes, 35, was arraigned in New Bedford District Court on two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping.

Investigators said the victims were 48-year-old Robyn Mendes, who was the suspect’s ex-girlfriend, and 61-year-old Catherine Gomes, who was the suspect’s mother. The district attorney said the women had been stabbed and that they may have been killed before Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Gomes had scrawled “I (heart) you” on a wall above Mendes’s body. They said his identification card was found on a pillow above her head.

Police said the two women were found inside Catherine Gomes’s Independent Street apartment Tuesday afternoon.  The landlord’s son found the bodies after he went into the apartment to check on the smell of natural gas.

Gary Gomes was arrested later Tuesday at Mendes’s Phillips Road apartment, where he had barricaded himself in a room with Mendes’s 12-year-old daughter. The girl was not hurt.

Investigators said Gomes admitted to the crimes, claiming he was “tired of disappointing his family.“

Gomes has a lengthy record, including convictions for kidnapping and attempted murder. He had recently been released after serving time on a 2006 conviction of assault with intent to murder Mendes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.