UPDATE: The man previously charged with robbing and assaulting an elderly Attleboro, Massachusetts woman who later died in a house fire in November has now been charged with her murder and the arson of her home, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
An earlier version of the story is below.
A man has been arrested for allegedly robbing and assaulting an elderly woman, who later died in an Attleboro, Massachusetts house fire in November, prosecutors in Bristol County announced Tuesday.
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Adam Rollins, 42, of Attleboro, was arrested Sunday in Weymouth, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. He was arraigned Tuesday on a burglary with assault charge.
The arrest followed a months-long investigation into the death of 80-year-old Judith Henriques, who police said was robbed and assaulted and later died in an early morning house fire on Nov. 18.
The Commonwealth said mens size 10 sneakers and unopened nips were found outside of the home and relatives believed there was more to what happened, despite the cause of the fire still being under investigation.
"There were injuries to Ms. Henriques and that there were minimal amounts of soot in her lungs and minimal amounts of CO in her blood, inconsistent with her being alive at the time of the fire," prosecutors said.
They said relatives began their own investigation and indicated her jewelry was never found at the home.
Weeks later, they say relatives searching the neighborhood found about $1,200 worth of her jewelry on a nearby street along with the defendant's ATM card.
Hours before the fire this defendant bought a sleeve of Dr. M nips using the ATM card located with the stolen jewelry from the residence.
"There are at least two to three other people who have motive and opportunity to do this," the defense argued.
Meanwhile, the defense says there’s no evidence fire was caused by foul play, no evidence of a break-in and says the nips have not been proven to belong to Rollins, raising questions about the victim's relatives.
"Some of those people spoke to her before her death, right prior to this happening and are the ones finding all of the evidence."
There is still no final autopsy or cause of death. The defendant is being held without bail pending a hearing set for Friday at 2 p.m.
