Tributes have been paid to a Hammersmith-born doctor who was found murdered with his fiancée in Boston, Massachusetts.
The body of anaesthetists Richard Field and Lina Bolanos were found dead in their luxury US penthouse apartment on Friday (May 5) night.
A suspect was shot three times when police arrived at the scene where they found a backpack full of jewellery, a replica firearm and at least one knife.
The couple were found dead in the apartment having suffered “obvious trauma”, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said.
A Facebook profile belonging to Dr Field says he was from the United Kingdom, while it has been reported he was born in Hammersmith.
According to the Massachusetts medicine board, Dr Field, 49, graduated from Sheffield University in 1999 and worked at a clinic in Beverly, north of Boston.
The North Shore Pain Management centre, where he worked since 2010, spoke of him as a “guiding vision” who gave patients and colleagues his “tireless devotion”.
“He was a valued member of the medical community and a tremendous advocate for his patients,” a Facebook post said.
“His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us.”
Paying tribute, one patient wrote on Facebook: “He was an amazing Dr. who was so kind and compassionate.
“I always said if he ever moved back to England I would follow him. Dr Field changed my life.”
Prosecutors say Dr Field texted a friend shortly before his death to report a “serious situation” with a gunman in his home.
Boston Police said they were called by the apartment block’s front desk at 8.40pm.
“The caller stated that another party had alerted him to a text requesting police notification for a ‘serious situation’ with a gunman in the victims’ apartment,” Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said.
The prosecutor said two officers fired their weapons at a man they found in the residence and "discharged their own weapons and struck him in the hand, abdomen, and leg".
Bampumim Teixeira, 30, was charged with two counts of murder on Monday (May 8) while still in his hospital bed.
His lawyer, Steven Sack, entered not guilty pleas to the two counts of murder at South Boston Municipal Court and did not request bail.
Dr Bolanos, 38, worked at Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital as a paediatric anaesthetist and was an instructor at the Harvard Medical School.
The case returns to court on June 8.
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
