An engaged couple – both accomplished Massachusetts doctors – was killed in a chaotic attack Friday night that ended with police shooting and wounding a suspect in South Boston.
Sources told WFXT that Dr. Lina Bolanos and Dr. Richard Field were found with their throats slashed in their penthouse apartment.
Police say the anesthesiologists were killed by a 30-year-old man with a criminal history named Bampumim Teixeira.
What we know about the victims
Bolanos was a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and was engaged to Field.
"Dr. Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague in the prime of both her career and life. We will do all we can to support their families and our staff members who are processing this senseless tragedy and grieving an enormous loss," said President and CEO of Massachusetts Eye and Ear John Fernandez.
According to an online profile, Bolanos was a former fellow at Tufts Medical Center and a former resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
She also spent time at the Universite libre de Cali Faculty of Medicine Medical School and was medically licensed in Massachusetts and Texas.
Field was an anesthesiologist at North Shore Pain Management in Beverly.
According to NSPM, Field “was instrumental in starting the interventional pain program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ... [and] co-authored the most up-to-date book chapters on epidural anesthesia and radiofrequency lesioning for the treatment of pain.”
Field had also served as an instructor in pain management and anesthesia at Harvard Medical School.
What we know about the suspect
Teixeira was named Saturday as the prime suspect in the slayings of Bolanos and Field.
Police say someone reported a man with a gun at the Macallen Building in South Boston around 8 p.m. Friday, and officers said they found Teixeira. According to police, he fired once before police shot and subdued him. Teixeira was then taken to a hospital.
He has a criminal record and served time after pleading guilty to stealing from a bank on Summer Street twice – once in 2014 and again in 2016. In both instances, police say he passed a teller a note demanding money but never showed a weapon.
What we know about the crime
Police told WFXT that the victims were found in the apartment on the top floor of the Macallen building after the shootout with Teixeira.
A source said the victims had their throats slashed, but few details about the crime scene have been officially released.
Both Bolanos and Field lived in the apartment. Police say the victims and Teixeira knew each other, though the nature of their relationship is not clear.
Full statement from Massachusetts Eye and Ear
"I was privileged to know and work with Lina over the course of the last decade or so. We first met when she was a young researcher. It was a privilege to be one of her mentors. We have worked together since 2011, except for a short break when she moved to Texas for a few months. In that time, I watched her mature and blossom from a young medical school graduate to a fabulous experienced pediatric anesthesiologist.
“Lina personified the ideal traits of a pediatric anesthesiologist, combining excellent skill with great compassion. She was warm and caring with both parents and the children she treated, creating a sense of calm even while managing the most stressful of cases. And she was the type of colleague that people were drawn to, with close personal friendships spanning the entire Mass. Eye and Ear community — people she worked with every day — from surgeons to nurses and administrative staff.
"Everyone at Massachusetts Eye and Ear really loved her. It is desperately hard for all of us to fathom that our friend who never failed to brighten our days is no longer with us." – Statement of Sunil Eappen, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Chief of Anesthesia at Massachusetts Eye and Ear
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