BOSTON -- Neil Entwistle, the man accused of murdering his Hopkinton family in January, returned to Massachusetts Wednesday to be formally charged with the murders of his wife and daughter.

U.S. marshals escorted Entwistle from London to the United States by air Wednesday. Entwistle was seen wearing handcuffs and leg shackels as he was walked from the private jet to a waiting marked Massachusetts State Police cruiser just after 5:30 p.m. at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass. Immediately following his arrival in Massachusetts, a police motorcade brought Entwistle from Hanscom to the Hopkinton Police Department for processing.

Before landing at Hanscom, the plane made a quick stop at Maine's Bangor International Airport.

On Thursday, Entwistle will be charged with the murders of his wife, Rachel, 27, and his 9-month-old daughter, Lillian. Officials allege Entwistle shot his family in their rented Hopkinton home on Jan. 20 before fleeing to his native England. He was arrested in England last week.

He will be arraigned Thursday at 2 p.m. in Framingham District Court on murder charges. Entwistle also faces one charge of possession of a firearm and one charge of possession of ammunition.

Boston defense attorney Elliot Weinstein was appointed to represent Entwistle by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a state agency that pairs private attorneys with defendants who can't pay. Weinstein has degrees from Trinity College and Boston College. Weinstein has worked on several high-profile cases locally, including serving as defense attorney for one the Anguilo brothers during an organized crime trial. Weinstein, who will meet with Entwistle Wednesday night, has expressed concerns about his client getting a fair trial.

Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Michael Fabbri will prosecute Entwistle. He has degrees from Northeastern and Framingham State College. Fabbri joined the district attorney's office in 1985. He carries a caseload that includes first-degree murder cases and other serious violent felonies.

Last week, Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley said Entwistle's Internet business had failed and his debt was mounting, which may have prompted him to plan a murder-suicide.

Investigators believe Entwistle used one of his father-in-law's guns to commit the murders and returned it to his in-laws' house in Carver, Mass., before boarding a plane for England from Logan International Airport at 8:15 a.m. the next day.

Rachel and Lillian's bodies were discovered in a bed at the family's 6 Cub's Path home in Hopkinton on Sunday, Jan. 22 after the family did not answer the door for invited guests Saturday evening. Rachel was last heard from on Thursday, Jan. 19.

Rachel and Lillian each died of a single gunshot wound, according to autopsy results. Rachel died from a gunshot wound to the head. Lillian was shot in the abdomen, but that bullet also entered her mother's torso.

Entwistle, a British citizen, had been staying with his parents in their Worksop, England home before returning to the United States. He did not return for the funerals of his wife and daughter, which were held Feb. 1 in Plymouth, Mass.

The couple, who met while Rachel was studying at York University in England, had been married for three years. Lillian was born last April.