Briton Neil Entwistle searched the internet for the “best” way to kill someone just four days before his American wife and baby daughter were murdered, a court has been told.

Detective Lawrence James showed the jury a diagram recovered from the internet history of Entwistle’s laptop which showed the major human arteries and a number of “strike points” in the chest.

The 29-year-old former IT worker denies killing his 27-year-old wife Rachel and nine-month-old daughter Lillian Rose at their home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, on January 20 2006.

His wife previously taught at St Augustine’s Catholic High School in Redditch and lived in Droitwich during her three years there.
Mr James, a computer specialist, said the the diagram of the major arteries was on a website.

Below the image, a comment read: “So you may be thinking ‘Why go for the aorta why not the heart?’. Because this isn’t the movies and it’s to stab through a human ribcage so if you ever get a clear shot at the torso, you’d be best to stab em in it just below the ribcage.

“All the other strike points are pretty self-explanatory, so there you have it. I hope an informative, but more importantly, an entertaining thread.”

The diagram, which was found following an internet search for “how to kill with a knife”, was accessed shortly after 11.30pm on January 16, Mr James said.

Less than 12 hours earlier, the same laptop and Entwistle’s username was used to trawl adult sex sites, including Adult Friend Finder and HalfPriceEscorts.com.

Earlier, the jury panel of eight men and eight women at the Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn, Massachusetts, heard Entwistle’s voice for the first time as an answerphone message left by the defendant was played to the court.

His muffled voice was barely audible in the courtroom.

Entwistle left the message for Michael Fee, a lawyer acting on behalf of Kim Puig the landlord of the Hopkinton house, after she became concerned that the property had been abandoned after the murders and the February rent had not been paid.

Mr Fee told the court: “He (Entwistle) stated that he had no intention of returning to the United States, that he didn’t care what happened to the property.

“But he suggested that I speak to Mr and Mrs Matterazzo (Rachel’s parents) about disposing of the personal property that was in the house.”

Entwistle also asked to be sent the jewellery that was in the house, Mr Fee said.

The jury has heard that a post-mortem examination found Mrs Entwistle was shot in the forehead at close range and Lillian was killed with a bullet which passed through her abdomen and lodged above her mother’s left breast as she cradled her in the four-poster bed in the master bedroom of their home.

Entwistle faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of the double murder.