Text Messages May be Key to Revere Homicide

By John Lynds

Text messages between former East Boston resident Andrew MacCormack and his wife Vanessa may establish a motive for her brutal slaying.

Vanessa’s husband, Andrew, stands accused of killing his wife on Saturday, Sept. 23 inside of the couple’s Revere home that they bought in 2015.

At his arraignment last week, Andrew was held without bail by Judge Ina Howard-Hogan.

According to court documents, the couple’s finances became more and more strained as Andrew’s alleged cocaine habit increased and Vanessa threatened to divorce him.

On Aug. 31 Vanessa allegedly texted Andrew,  “I hate you so much you’ve ruined [daughter’s] life because she won’t have her parents together…I’ll talk to [agent] tomorrow about listing the house and I’ll look into divorce lawyers.” Andrew allegedly responded, “Ur crazy I’m not signing anything to sell the house or get divorced”

Then on Sept. 3 Vanessa allegedly texted, “What about when you took my discover card and I had to cancel it?”. Andrew allegedly responded, “what about it?”. Vanessa answered, “did it have to do with this?” while Andrew replied  “no”.

Vanessa then allegedly went on to ask, “what about the time you said you ‘accidentally’ took out 200…I want answers …. It’s the least I deserve”

Prosecutors believe Andrew’s $400 to $500 a week drug habit had put the couple on the cusp of financial ruin.

On Sept. 15, Vanessa allegedly wrote, “Don’t you dare get frustrated with me you deserve to be questioned…It seems like you think being nice to me for four days would fix everything but it’s not that simple…You never did the things I said would need to happen if you want me to stay with you like going to marriage counseling, stepping it up financially, communicating [with] my family”

Andrew allegedly claimed to his wife that that thousands of dollars had been hacked from their bank account by someone in Thailand.

Prosecutors allege the financial strain on the couple’s marriage and Andrew’s drug habit came to a head on Sept. 23 that resulted in Vanessa’s murder.

After allegedly murdering his wife, prosecutors said Andrew traveled to a location in Saugus to complete a carpentry job – bringing his baby daughter along with him to the worksite.  During the course of the day, Andrew received phone calls from his wife’s family who had grown concerned after they were unable to reach her by phone.  Andrew also sent text messages to his wife’s phone, which prosecutors say he had with him at the time.

He then left the worksite after the baby soiled her diaper.  Rather than picking up a change of diapers, however, Andrew traveled to Eastie where he withdrew cash from an ATM in order to purchase cocaine from a known drug dealer.

Andrew received another phone call from a member of his wife’s family as he arrived at the couple’s Revere home.  Upon finding Vanessa’s body – which showed obvious signs of trauma – Andrew told the relative to call 911.  The relative did so. Andrew did not call 911 until a few minutes after the relative.

When police arrived, the house smelled strongly of bleach, and areas of the home appeared to have been freshly cleaned.  Andrew allegedly had a rash covering his upper body that he blamed on a change in laundry detergent brands, which police said was contradicted by evidence at the scene. Vanessa’s body also had chemical burns that suggested bleach was poured on her.  A medical examiner found that Vanessa had blunt head trauma, stab and slash wounds to the neck, and signs of both strangulation and suffocation, the latter possibly from a trash bag that may have been used to cover her head.

Kate Lagana is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Andrew MacCormack is represented by John Hayes and will return to court Oct. 27.

All defendants are presumed innocent.