Mathew Borges. (Lawrence Police)
SALEM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The murder trial of a Lawrence teen accused of killing his classmate continued into its second day Tuesday, with jurors hearing from the man who found the victim's mutilated body.
Mathew Borges is being tried as an adult in the murder of Lee Paulino in 2016, when Borges was just 15 years old.
On the first day of the trial Monday, prosecutors argued Borges, now 17, was jealous after seeing Paulino talking to his girlfriend.
Borges' defense argued that Borges did not kill Paulino, but did break into his home and steal several items just as Paulino went missing in November 2016.
Prosecutors: Lawrence 15-Year-Old Decapitated Classmate Over Girl
On Tuesday morning, Omar Medina, who found Paulino's body along the banks of the Merrimack River in December 2016, took the stand.
Medina told the court he found it while walking his dog off-leash and didn't believe the body was real, because "it was missing some limbs."
Jurors then heard from Lawrence Police Det. William Oliveri, who described how the body was missing a head and hands, and Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Brian O'Neill, who described finding a head downriver in a plastic bag that was "bobbing in the water."
Next, Lee Paulino's uncle Samuel Paulino testified, saying that on the day his cousin disappeared, he returned to the multi-family home they shared to find two people leaving the yard.
Samuel confronted one of them, and the teen told Samuel they were just cutting through the yard—but Samuel later noticed that a door to the apartment where Lee lived was ajar.
When Lee Paulino didn't come home, the family filed missing persons reports and a search ensued. They then noticed that Lee's PlayStation was missing, and his phone and wallet were on his bed.
Samuel said he asked neighbors to view their surveillance video, which he found showed Lee coming home, four strangers “showing up,” and then himself coming come.
The victim's grandmother, Ivelisse Cornelle, cried as she described, through an interpreter, how Lee spent the last day of his life at home with his family.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Karyn Regal (@KarynRegal) reports