Prosecutor links accused murderers to pregnant woman’s body through cell data, diamond ring
WARWICK — Two men accused of beating a pregnant woman to death appeared in District Court Wednesday as a prosecutor presented a haul of information, including cellphone data and surveillance images as well as specifics regarding matters of romance and a diamond wedding ring that was submerged with the woman’s body in the waters of Carbuncle Pond.
The father of the Brockton woman’s unborn baby, Gary R. Gromkiewicz, 35, of Lincoln, and one of his associates, 46-year-old Michael P. Lambert, formerly of Pawtucket, face charges of murder and conspiracy in the death of 34-year-old Leila Patricia Duarte Da Luz, according to state police.
The two men, both involved in previous violent crimes, stood silently before Magistrate Judge Joseph P. Ippolito as Assistant Attorney General John Corrigan presented evidence gathered during a months-long state police investigation.
The prosecution details the facts of the Carbuncle Pond case
Corrigan’s account began with the discovery of Da Luz’s body in Coventry about one mile east of the Connecticut border on Dec. 21.
More: pregnant woman found under ice at a Coventry pond in 2022;elm:context_link;itc:0″ class=”link “State police make arrest in death of pregnant woman found under ice at a Coventry pond in 2022
A medical examiner determined the body had been in the water for hours, and the autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, with a “compression fracture” to the skull, and drowning, Corrigan said, adding that Da Luz was eight to 10 weeks pregnant.
Water in her lungs indicated that she was alive when she entered the water, Corrigan said.
