Boston murder trial continues

By Jim Smith

BOSTON — The trial of the man accused of murdering gang prosecutor Paul McLaughlin is now in its second week in Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court.

Last week, a mother and daughter testified that Jeffrey Bly, who is now 24, had boasted about killing McLaughlin, who was shot in the head on Sept. 25, 1995 at a West Roxbury commuter rail station.

Special prosecutor Thomas Brennan elicited additional damning testimony from two former associates of Bly who were in his company around the time of the shooting.

The most dramatic testimony so far occurred on Monday of this week when Dana Alston took the stand. Alston, whose car was allegedly stolen by Bly at gunpoint in 1994, was about to testify against Bly during the carjacking trial, which was set to begin on Sept. 26, 1995.

Three weeks before that carjacking trial was to begin, an associate of Bly allegedly shot Alston in the head, in an apparent attempt to eliminate him as a witness.

Prosecutors claim that Bly, frustrated that Alston survived that murder attempt, then killed McLaughlin, one day before the start of the carjacking trial.

Later in 1995, Alston, who was partially paralyzed for several years after the murder attempt, testified against Bly in the carjacking case, which was prosecuted by a friend and colleague of the deceased McLaughlin. Bly was convicted and sent to prison for 15 to 20 years.

DNA experts are expected to bolster the prosecution’s case later this week as the trial continues amid tight security.