Massachusetts’ highest court on Wednesday ordered a judge to convene a hearing to allow a man convicted in 2007 of killing his girlfriend several years earlier to argue for further DNA testing on two knives and a bottle of bleach found at the scene.
Pierre P. Cadet was convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of Betina Francois in September 2004 after a tumultuous three-year relationship during which she obtained several restraining orders against him.
In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Elizabeth Dewar, the Supreme Judicial Court found that a lower court judge erred when he denied a motion filed by Cadet asking for new DNA testing to support his claim that he acted in self-defense.
The killing
On Sept. 26, 2004, neighbors saw Cadet and Francois enter the Brockton apartment where they had been living around 5 p.m. Hours later, around 7:30 p.m., they heard Francois say she was “not going to take this (expletive) anymore” and “leave me alone.” Minutes later, loud music began playing from the apartment and a neighbor then saw Francois’ car pull out of the driveway…