CHICOPEE — Police say two people died and a third person was hurt when an SUV crashed into a home in Chicopee.
Chicopee police say the vehicle struck a light pole and then crashed into the house at about 12:05 a.m. on Wednesday.
The driver and backseat passenger were pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who had been the front seat passenger was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
No names were made public.
The city’s building inspector was called to the scene.
The crash remains under investigation and no other details were released.
BOSTON — A post-doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a project that can analyze brain activity and sort users into a “Harry Potter” Hogwarts house.
MIT Media Lab student Nataliya Kosmyna says her “Thinking Cap” project is made of noninvasive electrodes that capture a person’s brain activity and uses machine learning to detect what a user is imagining. The Boston Globe reports the electrodes are encased in a wizard hat prop modeled after the Sorting Hat from the popular “Harry Potter” series.
Kosmyna says the hat can determine what a person is thinking about and use the information to sort them into a Hogwarts house in one test.
The cap was featured at a MIT exposition Tuesday. The still-in-development project’s eventual purpose is to help students build self-esteem.
SALEM — A man convicted of strangling his estranged wife in 2015 has been sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.
The Salem News reports that 48-year-old Axel Scherer, of Beverly, was sentenced Tuesday by a judge who called the killing “a truly heinous act.”
Scherer was convicted earlier this month of second-degree murder by a jury that rejected an insanity defense.
Prosecutors say he strangled 45-year-old Edith Black-Scherer on Nov. 16, 2015 with his hands and the drawstring of her sweat shirt, then walked into the Beverly police station to tell officers what he had done. Black-Scherer was found alive, but died at a hospital days later.
Scherer has a history of mental illness.
Scherer’s attorney, Michael Phelan, told the judge that his client wanted to apologize.
PITTSFIELD — Prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against a Massachusetts man who had been accused of fatally shooting another man outside a Pittsfield bar, but he still faces drug charges.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that 32-year-old James Cromartie’s bail was set Tuesday at $5,000 cash for a charge of cocaine possession.
Cromartie had been held without bail since October 2017 after his arrest in the January 2016 killing of 30-year-old James Dominguez.
Prosecutors dropped the murder charge Friday, citing the reliability of an eyewitness who has been charged with perjury.
Police say Dominguez was shot in the back of the head after leaving Lach’s Lounge.
Cromartie’s attorney said the evidence against his client wasn’t overwhelming and he was arrested on a warrant based on testimony prosecutors have now said was false.
MEDFORD — A woman has been sent to prison for stealing more than $100,000 in Social Security, Medicare and food stamp benefits.
Federal prosecutors say 39-year-old Stephanie DiPierro was sentenced this week to one year and one day in prison.
The Medford woman pleaded guilty in November to theft of public funds, making false statements and falsely representing a Social Security number.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office says she stole about $73,000 in Social Security benefits, $8,000 in Medicare benefits, $8,600 in MassHealth benefits and $18,000 in food stamps between 2007 and 2017.
Prosecutors say she told the state Department of Transitional Assistance that she did not have an income despite working as a personal care attendant.
She was also ordered to repay all the stolen money.
From Associated Press