Trial to start for 81-year-old suspect in 1991 shooting death of truck guard in Worcester
WORCESTER MA March 9 2018 — An 81-year-old Salisbury man charged with murder and armed robbery in the 1991 shooting death of an armored truck guard at a Lincoln Street supermarket is scheduled to go to trial in September in Worcester Superior Court.
Ralph DeMasi of Salisbury, a convicted bank robber with ties to mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, is alleged to have been one of four men who held up an armored truck at Shaw’s supermarket at 490 Lincoln St. on the morning of May 18, 1991. Edward P. Morlock Sr., 52, of Athol, an armed guard for Mass. Transport Inc. of Marlboro, was shot to death as he left the store with a bag of money.
Mr. DeMasi was arrested Dec. 13, 2016, after being secretly indicted on the murder and robbery charges by a Worcester County grand jury. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody without bail.
Judge Shannon Frison set a Sept. 19 trial date for Mr. DeMasi Wednesday at the request of defense lawyer Michael S. Hussey and Assistant District Attorney Terry J. McLaughlin. Jury selection is to get underway Sept. 19 with testimony to begin Sept. 24.
The judge also scheduled an April 10 hearing on a defense motion to dismiss the pending charges.
Mr. DeMasi was released from federal prison in 2013, after serving a sentence of 21-and-a-half years for the attempted holdup of a Brink’s armored truck in Newburyport in 1991.
In 2013, he was ordered by a judge to testify at the trial of Mr. Bulger, the Boston mobster and longtime fugitive charged with taking part in 19 killings while boss of the Winter Hill Gang.
Mr. DeMasi testified that he was a passenger in a car on Morrissey Boulevard in South Boston in 1973 when a hit man for Mr. Bulger pulled alongside the vehicle and opened fire. Mr. DeMasi said he was shot eight times, while the driver suffered 17 bullet wounds and died instantly. Mr. Bulger is now serving two life sentences for his role in 11 murders.
Three other men believed to have been involved in the 1991 Worcester robbery and shooting have since died, according to prosecutors.
Lawyer Paul R. Rudof, co-counsel with Mr. Hussey, alleged in the motion to dismiss that is to be heard in April that the integrity of the grand jury proceeding that led to the indictments against Mr. DeMasi was impaired by an “unfair and misleading” presentation of evidence. According to the motion, prosecutors failed to present information to the grand jurors that would have “undermined the credibility of evidence that is likely to have affected their decision to indict” and, in doing so, violated Mr. DeMasi’s constitutional rights.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their written opposition to the motion with the court.
