The boyfriend of a Massachusetts mother charged with murdering 2-year-old Bella Bond — also known as "Baby Doe" — believed the toddler was either possessed by demons or was a demon and that "it was her time to die," a prosecutor said at his arraignment on Monday.
Michael McCarthy, charged with murdering Bella, was held without bail. The toddler's mother, Rachelle Bond, was charged as an accessory after the fact and was held on $1 million cash bail.
Bella was found dead in a trash bag on Boston Harbor's Deer Island on June 25. Unable to identify her for months, authorities called her "Baby Doe" while her composite image was shared by tens of thousands of people online in an attempt to find out who she was.
Friday's arrest and identification of Bella came 24 hours after Boston homicide detectives received a tip.
During Monday's arraignment, Assistant District Attorney David Deakin revealed details of how the alleged murder came to light and the shocking alleged treatment of Bella by her mother and her mother's boyfriend, who he said was in a cult obsessed with demons and ghosts.
McCarthy's lifelong friend, who had lived with him and Bond for one to two weeks last winter, approached the police on Wednesday after he spoke to Bond about Bella.
According to Deakin, McCarthy and Bond had told the friend that Bella was in custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). During a conversation with Bond on Wednesday, she told the friend that she had gotten off drugs. He told her that was good news as she would be able to get Bella back from DCF. According to the friend, Bond then broke down and said, "I'll never see my daughter again" because McCarthy had killed her and she had helped him cover up the murder.
When the friend texted McCarthy, who was in the hospital, McCarthy told him not to believe Bond and that Bella was still with the DCF.
The friend's sister then told him about the Baby Doe case, and when he saw the composite image, he realized there was a "striking resemblance" between Baby Doe and Bella, Deakin told the court.
The friend told police that he moved out of McCarthy and Bond's house last winter because he was "appalled" by their treatment of Bella, Deakin said.
The friend told police that the couple yelled and demeaned the child and that he saw Bond spank her daughter, Deakin said. He also told police that he saw McCarthy lock Bella in a closet on more than one occasion for 30 minutes to an hour while she screamed to be let out.
Both McCarthy and Bond told the friend that Bella was possessed by demons and required that kind of treatment, Deakin told the court.
The friend also told police that McCarthy was interested in a cult that purported to see ghosts and demons and exorcise them.
During her police interview, Bond said that on the night of May 29, Bella became unruly and McCarthy said he would calm her down in the back bedroom, according to Deakin. When Bond did not hear any noise from the room she went to check in on them, and said she saw McCarthy standing over Bella on her bed with his hand near her abdomen. She said her head appeared swollen and her face looked gray, Deakin told the court.
According to Bond's statement to the police, McCarthy told her that Bella was a demon and it was her time to die, Deakin said. McCarthy allegedly threatened to kill Bond if she reported the death to authorities. They put her body in a trash bag and placed it in the refrigerator. Deakin said that McCarthy then brought a large quantity of heroin and injected it into Bond's neck and both were "highly intoxicated" for several days.
After Bella's body was in the refrigerator for nearly a month, they put it in the trunk of the car and dumped her in Boston Harbor after McCarthy put weights inside the bag, Bond told police.
Deakin said that Bond had a lengthy criminal history related to several restraining orders, including those by her mother and mother's husband, as well as a lengthy record of drug convictions and prostitution.
Bond's lawyer said she had been homeless for several years and had recently recovered from a drug addiction.
"I hope you rot in hell," Megan Fewtrell screamed at McCarthy and Bond before being escorted out of the courtroom. Fewtrell, who claimed to be Bella's godmother, was carrying a stuffed yellow "Ducky" that she said Bella slept with every night.
As McCarthy was being led away by authorities, Joe Amoroso, who said he was Bella's biological father shouted, "Mike McCarthy, you're done! You won't last a day."
Bond and McCarthy are set to appear in court on Oct. 20.