Boat Propeller Death Case Ends in Not Guilty Verdict

A Framingham man was found not guilty of homicide by negligent operation of a boat by a jury.

Luciano Pereira, 25, of Edmands Road, of Framingham was driving a boat on Lake Cochituate in Natick, when his friend Jeffrey Nunes, 23, of Natick was seriously injured on Independence Day in 2013.

Nunes was struck in the head by the boat’s propeller, and later died from those injuries.

The Massachusetts Medical Examiner said Nunes died of “chop force injuries” that caused a fractured skull and brain damage.

A breathalyzer test was issued to Pereira, who tested negative for alcohol.

Natick Police and the Massachusetts Environmental Police investigated the death.

The jury trial ended just before Thanksgiving.

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Photo courtesy of U.S. Government