The light in the upstairs bedroom

Dennis Murphy Correspondent • Profile

BOSTON - They met in a most English Wind-in-the-Willows kind of way: By messing about in boats. How appropriate that the university boathouse would turn out to be on Love Lane.

In the north of England the Ouse River flows through the ancient Yorkshire countryside and each practice and race day, Rachel Souza, the petite American, would sit in the coxswain's seat and bellow out instructions in her Boston accent to the eight young men facing her in a line, fellow students at the University of York.

Carolyn Eisen had struck up an immediate liking for Rachel when they met on their Junior-Year-Abroad.

Carolyn Eisen: Rachel was on the crew team.  She was a coxswain, and as much as I understand, she sat at the end of the boat and yelled things at the boys.  Told them to row.  And she was great for this because she was pretty short.

One of the lads dipping oars in unison to the American girl's call was Neil Entwistle. In class-conscious Britain he was a striver, a bright boy from a coal-mining town that had seen better days. It's not hard to imagine him being drawn to the vivacious American.

Donovan Slack, Boston Globe reporter: Her friends describe her as spritely, and full of energy.  She had a sparkle in her eyes that just made everyone she met fall in love with her.

And pretty soon you could count Neil Entwistle in that group. By the end of her school term, Neil was a fixture at Rachel Souza's side. And Rachel's friend approved.

Carolyn Eisen: I would see him, like, opening the door for her.  And he was very polite.  I think he always called when he said he would call her. You know, the things that you're hoping to find when you're meeting a new guy.  And he adored her. 

As a schoolboy--son of a town councilor and a school cook--great things were expected of Neil. His childhood friend, Anthony Bootman, remembers Neil as the go-to guy for any computer wizardry.

Anthony Bootman: Well beyond what any of the rest of the students could do.  He was really clever at stuff like that engineering craft and design. 

At the University of York, he was studying for a degree in engineering, when he met Rachel.

But semesters end, as semester do, and by the late summer of 2000, Rachel was back home in Massachusetts preparing to finish her senior year at Holy Cross. But she couldn't shake off the happy memory of her English boyfriend, Neil.

Donovan Slack: Rachel told her friends in Massachusetts that Neil was her knight in shining armor. 

So when Rachel graduated in 2001 she went right back over to York, England, enrolled in a teacher training program, and quickly resumed with Neil where they'd left off.

Two years on, Neil and Rachel decided to marry at the historic Plymouth Plantation.  

Donovan Slack: They had a fairy tale wedding. It was very obvious to the guests there that they were very much in love.

They settled into a modest flat in the Midlands of England, where Neil could commute to his job. 

He'd parlayed his Masters degree in electrical engineering into a job as a computer specialist with a large defense contractor. Rachel, meanwhile, was teaching English and drama at a Catholic school.

Buchanan: She was in a job that she loved.  She loved working with young people.  She really enjoyed being a teacher. She seemed blissfully happy following her marriage.

On a website named RachelandNeil.org, Neil the computer whiz had created an online photo album to share pictures with their families and friends so far away back in the States, portraits of the beaming, vibrant couple.

In April 2005, they flooded the site with photos of a new arrival, a baby girl named Lillian Rose.

The infant -- nicknamed Lilly-Bean -- was growing up so fast that her grandparents back in the States, Rachel's mother, Priscilla, and her stepdad, Joe Materazzo, wanted to see ever more of the little girl they doted on.

Maybe it was time to give America a try for awhile?

Slack:  Neil and she decided to move back to Massachusetts. They moved in with her parents for several months. And they finally managed to get their own place.

The house that would become their home was discovered in the suburbs of Boston, a place called Hopkinton, an hour's drive from her parents.

Entwistles signed a three-month lease on the property, with a rent of $2700 a month.

Crime reporter Michele McPhee has written a book about the Entwistle case.

McPhee:  I mean, this house was huge by many people's standards.  It had four bedrooms. They could take a jacuzzi under the stars. 

And to fill-up the garage, they leased a white BMW SUV for another $400 per month.

Later on people, would wonder where their money was coming from, since Neil was still job hunting and setting up interviews. But husband didn't bat an eye when in the next few days they bought furniture for their new nest.

A few days after moving in--when January 19, 2006 rolled around on the calendar, a Thursday--all seemed well in the home that was coming together on 6 Cubs Path.

Michele McPhee:   She gets a phone call from her longtime good friend, Joanna Gately, and Joanna says, "I’ll come over this weekend.  We’ll have dinner.  I’ll help you.  I want to see the new house.  I want to see the baby." 

It was going to be a busy weekend. In addition to a dinner party Rachel was planning with Joanna for Saturday night, Rachel's mother was coming over for lunch with a friend that same day.

So as Rachel drifted off to sleep that evening she might have been thinking about getting the house ready for its big debut with friends and family.

From what police were able to piece together later, it was the last time she'd ever turn out the bedside light. 

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