BOSTON -- Neil Entwistle, accused of shooting his wife and baby daughter, asked if his slain family members could be buried together because that was "the way he left them," according to testimony Monday at his murder trial.

Entwistle Wanted Victims Buried Together, Stepdad Says

The 29-year-old is accused of shooting his wife, Rachel, 27, and their 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, in January 2006 as they lay in bed in their Hopkinton home before he left for England. Prosecutors have said that Neil Entwistle was unhappy with his sex life and faced heavy debt, but defense attorneys argued that he was grief-stricken and went to England to be consoled by his parents.

Rachel Entwistle's stepfather, Joseph Matterazzo, testified that Neil Entwistle called him from his parents' home in England shortly after the young mother and baby were found dead.

"His voice was very shaky -- whimpering type. He said, 'Hi Joe. I don't know how things got like this," Joseph Matterazzo said "He said that he fed Lilly her breakfast and he left the house at 11 a.m. He said he returned home, walked around the house, called up to Rachel, and there was no answer. He said that he cleaned the first floor of the house. He said that he went upstairs and found Rachel and Lilly shot and that it was just a big mess."

He said that Neil Entwistle told him he went to the airport and called his father to get a ticket to return to England.

"He kept saying he knew I had guns in the house," Joseph Matterazzo said. "He asked me if Rachel and Lilly could be buried together because, 'that is they way I left them, I mean, I found them.'"

Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri said Neil Entwistle used a gun owned by Joseph Matterazzo, to kill Rachel and Lillian Entwistle. Neil Entwistle's DNA was found on an ammunition and the grip of the .22-caliber gun, officials said.

"I owned a .22-caliber pistol revolver, a .357 Magnum revolver, an antique gun and I have two rifles, a Winchester and a shotgun," Joseph Matterazzo said.

He said that neither his wife nor Rachel Entwistle handled his guns and that he kept them in his wife's clothes closet and that the guns were always locked.

"I had a set of keys that I kept downstairs on the counter. On the right hand side, I keep my different sets of keys," he said. "(I had) three sets of keys. The one on the counter was a complete set. I had another set in my bedroom, and I kept a set in my pickup truck."

He said that in early 2006, he learned that the set of keys he kept in his bedroom was missing. Joseph Matterazzo said that he went with Neil Entwistle to the gun club a few months prior.

"We explained the safety rules of the club, and then we instructed Neil how to load the guns, shoot them and all that stuff," Joseph Matterazzo said. "He did quite well."

Joseph Matterazzo also testified that in early January 2006, Rachel and Neil Entwistle moved into a home in Hopkinton. He said that on Sunday Jan 22. 2006, he and his wife went to the Entwistle's home in Hopkinton. When they arrived, several people were outside the home. They went to the Hopkinton Police Department, where they met with an officer.

"We filled out a missing person report for Rachel, Neil and Lilly," Joseph Matterazzo said. "An officer came in and said that a young lady and a baby were found in the Hopkinton home. I asked where Neil was."

On the following day, he said that he received a phone call from Cliff Entwistle, Neil Entwistle's father. Joseph Matterazzo said that they spoke on the phone for about 10 minutes before he received the phone call from Neil Entwistle.

Joseph Matterazzo said that he called Neil Entwistle to tell him that they needed his permission to go ahead with the funeral plans.

"He mentioned all of the stuff about the pornographic e-mails and all that was ridiculous that was in the news," he said. "I told him exactly what the funeral director told him he had to write. He had to sign it and fax it back to me. He faxed it right over."

Over the course of the days that followed, Joseph Matterazzo said that he gave his computers and guns, fingerprints and DNA swabs to police.

"Did you see the defendant at the wake at all?" Fabbri said.

"No," Joseph Matterazzo said.

"What about the funeral?" Fabbri said.

"No," Joseph Matterazzo said.

Earlier in the day, Lloyd Cooke, Rachel Entwistle's uncle, was cross-examined after he testified that he and Joseph Matterazzo went target shooting at the Old Colony Sportsman's Association with Neil Entwistle in the fall of 2005 twice before the deaths.

Cooke said they used Joseph Matterazzo's guns at the shooting range and that he and Matterazzo had to show Neil Entwistle how to use the guns.

Michael Anthony Matterazzo, 33, Joseph Matterazzo's son, testified that he met Neil Entwistle after Rachel Entwistle returned from studying abroad. He said that he spent time with the couple after they had Lillian. He said that Rachel Entwistle was "ecstatic to be back in the United States," and "loved being a mother."

Before learning of the slayings, Michael Matterazzo said that he spoke with his father that day and made plans with him to return to the gun club. On Saturday morning, he said that he drove to Kingston, and met his father and his brother, Anthony. The family spent several hours target shooting at the club.

"There is a back pistol range -- outdoor -- and that is where we were for the day," Michael Matterazzo said.

Matterazzo said that they used his father's guns to shoot at the range. He said that when he unlocked the gun, he noticed that it was not locked correctly.

"(The guns) were all in their cases with the trigger locks on them. We all unlocked them individually," Michael Matterazzo. "I unlocked the .22 and the .357."

After shooting, the family left the range and went to lunch before returning to the gun club, he said. When asked to describe his father's demeanor that day, Michael Matterazzo that he his father was "funny" and "just himself."

Michael Matterazzo said that he spoke to his father several times during the night and several times the following morning before learning of Rachel and Lillian's deaths. He drove to the Hopkinton Police Department and saw his father and other family members talking to police.

"(My father) was destroyed," Michael Matterazzo said.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Elliot Weinstein asked Michael Matterazzo about his father's guns.

"When your father was living in the house in Plymouth, you knew that he owned handguns?" Weinstein said.

"Yes," Michael Matterazzo said.

Michael Matterazzo said that when his father moved to Carver, he did not know where his father kept his guns, but he said that he knew where the keys were to unlock the gun trigger locks.

"They were on the counter," he said.

Michael Matterazzo said that he visited his father and saw Rachel Entwistle at the home on a few occasions before Neil Entwistle moved into the home.

"They were happy?" Weinstein asked.

"Yes," Michael Matterazzo said.

George Wilson, 58, of Hanover, Mass., an instructor with the Junior Rifle Program at the Old Colony Sportsman's Club, said that he met the Matterazzo family in September of 2005 when they came to the club, interested in the program.

Wilson said that he handles guns that are owned by other people during his instruction.

"I've been doing this for most of my life. I have a certain level of expertise and people come to me to ask questions and to be instructed in the shooting sport," Wilson said.

Wilson saw Joseph Matterazzo and two of his sons at the club on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2005.

"They came into the indoor range and said good morning. They did not spend more than a minute or two. I remember this because I did not realize that Joe had another son," Wilson said. "I was there from 9:30 a.m. to noon."

Joseph Matterazzo recalled when he first met his girlfriend's daughter, Rachel Entwistle. He moved in with Priscilla about eight months after they started dating and decided to get married in 2001.

"(Rachel) was a junior in high school when I met her. She lived with us her junior and senior year before she went to college," Joseph Matterazzo said.

He said that Rachel went to England during her junior year as an exchange student, but that she spent her summers living with them at the home in Plymouth.

"She had quite a few friends at college. She was very popular. She went back to England to get certified as a teacher," he said. "She made many friends in England. She loved England and loved the English people."

Joseph Matterazzo said that he first met Neil Entwistle during a break when they returned to the United States.

"They had a very good relationship," he said. "I walked Rachel down the aisle and gave her away."

After the marriage, he said that Rachel and Entwistle returned to England, but that Rachel moved back to Massachusetts in August 2005 after she gave birth to Lillian.

Weinstein showed him a picture of a room inside his home, and Joseph Matterazzo said that it was an office above his garage. He said that while there was a computer in the room, Joseph Matterazzo said that he rarely used it because he is "not good with computers."

"I used to start work at 7 a.m., and whenever I got through with my work, it was usually 6 p.m.," Joseph Matterazzo said.

He said that during the fall of 2005, he observed Neil Entwistle spending time in the office above the garage.

"On occasions, he would go up to the office after supper, or he would be up there when I got home from work," he said.

Joseph Matterazzo said that he got back into his gun hobby after he divorced his first wife. He said that he took his sons to the Old Colony Sportsman's Club when they had an open house and became a member in October.