Victim's Grandmother Testifies in Trial of Teen Accused of Beheading Classmate

Members of the victim's family testified Tuesday in Day 2 of the trial of a Massachusetts teen accused of beheading a classmate over jealousy.

Mathew Borges, 18, is charged with the murder of 16-year-old Lawrence High School classmate Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino back in 2016. The victim’s headless body was discovered by someone walking their dog along the banks of the Merrimack River. His head was found nearby.

It was an emotional morning for friends and relatives of Viloria-Paulino, some grimacing as jurors listened to testimony from the state police trooper who found the bag containing Viloria-Paulino's head floating in the Merrimack River.

State police Sgt. Brian O'Neill described how he saw a plastic Market Basket bag bobbing in the river and pulled it to shore using a stick. He opened the bag using sticks and found another bag with rocks inside.

"At that point I opened it up just enough where I could notice an ear," he said.

Jurors also saw gruesome pictures of the scene after hearing from the man who found the body while out walking his dog.

"As I approached I saw [the dog] sniffing at a particular area and when I looked I thought I saw a dead body but I wasn't sure because it was missing some limbs," Omar Medina of Lawrence said.

Jurors heard from the victim's uncle, Samuel Paulino, who said the family was frantically searching for Viloria-Paulino all weekend after he didn't come home.

Viloria-Paulino's grandmother, Ivelisse Cornelle, broke down when she talked about the last meal she made him and how he would always hug and kiss her and say, "Grandmother, I love you."

Testimony wrapped up for the day at 1 p.m. and will continue on Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors said on Monday that the murder of Viloria-Paulino, was fueled by jealousy. They said Borges would get angry with his classmate when his then-girlfriend would speak to the victim.

The defendant's ex-girlfriend testified Monday in support of what prosecutors said.

"He yelled at me about me being friendly with Lee because we were making jokes with each other, but he thought we were flirting," Leilany DeJesus said.

She said Borges eventually broke up with her because he thought she was cheating on him with other people. She said he had a list of names that included Viloria-Paulino.

Viloria-Paulino's headless body was discovered by a man walking his dog along the banks of the Merrimack River on Dec. 1, 2016. Prosecutors said the victim's hands had also been cut off and that his head was found nearby in a bag weighted down with rocks.

He was last seen alive on Nov. 18, 2016. The boy’s family said police never took the case seriously after they reported the victim missing two weeks before his decapitated body was found.

Prosecutors said surveillance video shows Borges walking toward the river with the victim on the night of his death. A short time later, four people were seen breaking into Viloria-Paulino's home. Prosecutors said those people are friends of Borges who later told investigators he had admitted to killing Viloria-Paulino.

Prosecutors read Monday from a journal entry written by Borges that they said outlines the crime. "Go chill with him in his crib alone... bring duffel bag, wear bags on shoes, wear clothes you don't care about."

The defense, however, have argued that Borges is only guilty of being involved in the break-in and nothing more. They said there is no evidence he killed Viloria-Paulino.

The defense also said prosecutors are trying to escalate Borges' jealousy to murder. They also said he was in the early stages of dating a new girl.

Borges was 15 years old at the time of the killing, according to authorities. He is now being tried as an adult. He was ordered held without bail during a hearing on March 2017.