Brockton Man Found Guilty of Assaulting Woman During Robbery

From the Plymouth County District Attorney's office:

BROCKTON, MA — A jury has convicted a Brockton man in the brutal attack of a woman in her own home, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced Thursday.

After a five day-long trial, a jury deliberated 12 1⁄2 hours before finding Brian Vines, 41, guilty of armed assault with intent to rob a victim 60 years or older, assault and battery on an elder causing bodily injury, armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. The Commonwealth charged Vines with armed assault with intent to murder but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of assault.

Vines faces a habitual offender criminal penalty enhancement on each of the charges he was found guilty of today. Upon a conviction for habitual offender, Vines faces a mandatory life sentence. A trial on the habitual offender charges will be held in the coming weeks and sentencing will occur at the conclusion of that trial.

On June 4, 2013, Brockton Police responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting that she had been attacked in her home on Brookfield Drive. Upon arrival, police found the female victim in her 60s, badly beaten and lying in a pool of blood in her kitchen. The victim, who had been beaten and stabbed multiple times, including a slash to her throat, told police she had been attacked by Brian Vines, who attended school with the victim’s sons, but whom the family had not seen in many years. In further interviews with police, the victim stated that Vines arrived at her home and asked for her son’s phone number. When she turned around to give him the number, the defendant put her in a chokehold, put a gun to her back and demanded she give him all of her money. When Vines learned that the victim only had $2 in cash to give him, he demanded her ATM card and PIN number. Vines then used a weapon to beat the victim in the head and eye area repeatedly. After she fell to the floor, he stabbed her several times in her back and slit her throat. Vines then left the woman for dead on her kitchen floor and locked the door behind him. He was arrested the following day in Raynham after police linked him to debit card use. DNA testing confirmed the victim’s blood was present on Vines’ shirt, shorts and sneakers.

The victim, who testified at trial, was treated for serious injuries in the attack. She suffered fractured nasal bones, eye socket, vision loss and severe stab lacerations to her lower back and neck.

“Mr. Vines savagely attacked this unsuspecting, trusting woman, took her ATM card and left her to die on her own kitchen floor,” DA Cruz said. “On the stand, the defendant could not recall what happened that day, but the victim remembered and recited every horrific detail to the jury and helped them to make the right decision in convicting Brian Vines.”