Friends and family of a Leominster native killed in a Las Vegas triple murder last summer are eagerly awaiting justice in what is now a death penalty trial.
Chris Brassard, 45, was a maintenance worker at a Vegas apartment complex when last June he and a coworker conducted a welfare check on an 80-year-old resident.
Prosecutors say 30-year-old Spencer McDonald, who lived with his grandmother, attacked Brassard and his coworker when they entered the unit, fatally stabbing Brassard.
Police would also find the bodies of McDonald’s grandmother, Dina Vail, and her boyfriend, Andrew Graden, bludgeoned and stabbed, inside the apartment. Police say McDonald confessed to the crimes.
“There’s a special part of us that isn’t with us anymore, and it hurts every day,” Brassard’s cousin Allyssa Carlberg told Boston 25 News. “Chris has always been one of the funniest people that I’ve known. His laughter and his smile was contagious, and sometimes when I close my eyes I can still hear him.”
One of Brassard’s best friends, Mathew Cormier, a buddy since middle school, described his longtime friend as a hardcore Boston Bruins fan who named his dog Neely after the retired right wing, as well as a dedicated friend and family member.