Officials: 2 other Southie women attacked



Authorities believe that the murder of a young woman whose body was found Tuesday afternoon in Hyde Park’s Stony Brook Reservation may be linked to two other attacks on women in South Boston.



Amy E. Lord (Handout photo)



One man suspected in the violent spree, which took place over a 19-hour period, is in custody, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said.


The man identified by Boston police as Edwin J. Alemany, 28, of Boston. He is charged with assault with intent to murder for attacking a woman on Gates Street in South Boston shortly after midnight today, Boston police said.


Amy E. Lord, 24, of South Boston was kidnapped by two men in her neighborhood and forced to withdraw money from ATMs before she was repeatedly stabbed and her body dumped in the wooded parkland, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.


Lord’s body was found Tuesday afternoon. Police believe the suspect attacked another woman at about 5 a.m. Tuesday in Andrew Square, then attacked Lord. After Lord’s murder, the suspect attacked a third woman at about 12:10 a.m. Wednesday morning, at Telegraph and Gates streets, the officials said.


The other two women attacked survived.


Alemany was arrested at a Boston hospital earlier today where he had sought treatment for an knife wound that authorities now suspect he sustained during one of the attacks on the women, according to an officials familiar with the investigation.


The officials said that one of his victims was at the same hospital being treated for her own injuries when she spotted Alemany and alerted police that he was the person who had attacked her.


The investigation continues into the possible involvement of the second man.


Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley will brief the media at 4:30 p.m. at police headquarters.


Lord was a high school cheerleader and graduate of Bentley University who had moved to South Boston, friends said today.


She had been on her way to the gym early Tuesday morning, according to those who knew her. That was the last time she was seen.


Lord was a native of Wilbraham who was living in an apartment on Dorchester Street.


Donald Lord, Amy Lord’s grandfather, said he was devastated. “If you had a daughter, you would want her to be like Amy,” he said. “She was everything you would want to your daughter to be.”


Leah Cameron, Lord’s former cheerleading coach at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, said, “She was this beautiful angel who came from a small town and went to the big city.’


Cameron described Lord, who graduated from the school in 2007, as a vibrant young woman who excelled as a dancer on a squad that won the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators’ Association Regional Championship two years in a row.


Cherise Leclerc, a fellow cheerleader who now works as a television reporter in Springfield, said Lord was exceedingly bright and athletic. Lord worked as a digital media analyst, but her dream, Leclerc said, was to be a wedding planner.


“She always told me in high school she wanted to be a wedding planner,” Leclerc said. “She loved weddings, loved families and loved the idea of getting married.”


The company where Lord worked, Genuine Interactive, released a statement saying that her death was “both tragic and shocking.”


“We are taking time to focus on the well-being of Amy’s family and friends, while trying to come to grips with the loss of such a vibrant, caring, and special young person,” the company said, describing Lord as someone with “an infectious positive personality” and “an ever-present smile and caring nature.”


“We are extremely saddened by her passing,” the statement said.


“The Bentley community grieves along with so many who knew and loved this ambitious, energetic and talented young woman,” Bentley University said in a statement.


The university said Lord graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree. The university said she was involved in numerous activities and was active in intramural soccer.


At least five young women got out of a car today in front of Lord’s apartment building and met about three women who had walked from around the corner. The women, most of them wiping tears from their eyes, consoled each other with hugs and pats on the back as they stood in front of the entrance to her apartment. They declined to comment and walked away.


A man who has lived in the apartment complex for about three months said he didn’t know Lord but was told by other residents Tuesday evening that a young woman tenant was missing.


“Now that I know about what happened, yeah, it’s frightening, something like that happening to a person who I lived so close to,” said the man, who requested his name not be published.


According to law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, Lord was abducted by two men, who forced her into her car at knifepoint. They forced her into her car and made her withdraw money from ATMs.


According to the officials, Lord’s car was later recovered in South Boston, where it had been set on fire. Boston firefighters responded to Logan Way Tuesday around 8:30 a.m. where they doused a burning black Jeep, officials said.


Earlier today, more than 30 Boston police cruisers lined Ennekingcq Parkway, in addition to another dozen or so unmarked vehicles.


Dozens of officers filed in and out of the wooded area. Some unloaded rakes and shovels from a Public Works Department truck.


The area is a popular walking and jogging pathway, said Kathy Pepe of Roslindale, who runs a pet care company and often walks dogs in the area.


“I come here almost every day,” Pepe said as she stood with the dog she was walking.“I’ve been coming here for almost 10 years.”


She added, “I’m wondering who the victim was. ’Cause I know a lot of dogwalkers who go in here. The first thing I thought was of the other dogwalkers.”


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Martin Finucane and John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @globeballou. Wesley Lowery can be reached at wesley.lowery@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesleyLowery.