Police investigate murder suicide killing 2 in elevator blast

[Ian David]

LYNN, Mass. -- A Lynn man pulled his estranged girlfriend into an elevator in the office building where she worked and set off a homemade bomb, killing them both, authorities and witnesses said.

Authorities responding to an explosion in the elevator of the office building on Wednesday found the bodies of a man and woman inside, and police are investigating it as a murder-suicide.



Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said the deaths appeared to be a "domestic violence situation by use of an incendiary device."

Blodgett said investigators also looked at a car left near the scene to see if it may have been booby-trapped. He identified the owner of the car as Raymond Echevairria, 23.

Witnesses said the man pulled the woman into the elevator, The Daily Item of Lynn reported.

Police said there was an explosion inside the elevator, engulfing it in flames, shortly after.

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The Daily Item said court records showed a restraining order had been issued against Echevairria on Jan. 8 after his girlfriend who worked in the building, alleged he kidnapped her at knifepoint. She had the restraining order lifted on Jan. 16. Blodgett told the newspaper Echevairria was scheduled to appear in court on the kidnapping charges on April 17.

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http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO46003/