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State's Highest Court Upholds Neil Entwistle Murder Conviction

BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts has rejected the appeal of a British man convicted of killing his wife and baby daughter in their rented home.

Lawyers for Neil Entwistle argued for a new trial, saying evidence obtained in warrantless searches of the Hopkinton home by police looking for his wife and daughter should have been dismissed at trial.

They also argued that because of "saturating and inflammatory" media coverage of the case, it was impossible to get an impartial jury.

The court said in its decision released Tuesday that the searches were justified because of the possibility that the home's residents were in danger.

The SJC concluded that "the defendant received a fair trial that was ably tried and judged."

Entwistle was convicted of the 2006 shootings of his wife Rachel, and their daughter, 9-month-old Lillian.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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