61-year-old slashed in neck and torso

UPDATE: Larry Landry, 41, of 235 Littleton Road, Chelmsford, was arrested at Bishop Markham Village, 198 South Street, in Lowell this afternoon.

He is charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a disabled person, according to police.

The 61-year-old victim, who authorities have not identified, was upgraded to stable condition today at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He is expected to survive.

According to police radio broadcasts from Tuesday night, one of Landry’s family members lives in Bishop Markham Village.

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I was in a meeting at Lowell General Hospital regarding traffic in Lowell this evening when I checked my breaking news list on Twitter and discovered Chelmsford Police were calling for MedFlight to transport a man who was attacked with a knife at 257 Littleton Road.

I left Lowell General in a hurry.

After talking to a witness and friends of the victim at the scene, I believe I know the victim’s name and the name of a man who may be the suspect, but I’m going to withhold the victim’s name until I know his family has been notified.

I’m also going to withhold the possible suspect’s name, since the DA’s office is not confirming that they have a suspect. Lawsuits and all that, you know?

Jessica Pastore, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone, confirmed for me that police were called about 6:45 p.m., for a report of a 61-year-old man with life-threatening stab wounds.

That man was flown to an undisclosed regional trauma center and is still being treated at this hour. Continue reading

Body found in Dracut still unidentified

It has been over a week since a boater spotted a dead body in the Merrimack River near 197 Merrimack Avenue (Route 110).

Investigators from Dracut Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office have still not identified the body.

Today police released even more details about the description of the man who was found dead.

Police say the man was a white male, 20- to 41-years-old. He was 5’9, about 120 pounds, and had red body hair.

Police say he had no scars, no tattoos, and bad teeth. Police were unable to determine his eye color.

He was wearing white Nike Airmax sneakers, size 11.5, but he only had size 9 feet. He was wearing dark blue nylon pants with three vertical white stripes down the legs, with an Adidas bathing suit underneath. He was wearing a Casio watch, not a Seiko, as was initially reported. He was also wearing a light-colored polo shirt with the name and logo for “Corporate Chefs,” on it.

Police have contacted Corporate Chefs, which is based in Haverhill and has closer locations, but company officials checked for past employees who are unaccounted for and did not discover any.

Dracut Police Deputy Chief Dave Chartrand said investigators are pursuing all possible leads, but have still come up empty so far.

“We have researched all missing persons in the area and have not encountered a viable match,” Chartrand told me. “We have also been in contact with the local homeless shelters, to no avail.” Continue reading

Escaped prisoner captured

Jeff Lyons, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, called me today to let me know that Shane Adkinson, 28, of Lowell, is back in custody following his escape from a minimum security facility in Manchester, N.H.

Adkinson, 28, failed to return to a minimum security center on Friday after he was given permission to leave to get a haircut and groceries.

Lyons said Adkinson was found in an apartment in Manchester on Sunday night and arrested.

He is now being held in a special housing unit at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord, Lyons said. That is New Hampshire’s maximum security prison.

“That’s very typical when someone has walked away and been apprehended and brought back,” Lyons said. “We put them in a stricter environment for disciplinary purpose.”

Lyons didn’t have any further details about Adkinson’s arrest, but you can stop looking out for him on the streets of Lowell.