Man Convicted of Hiring Assassin To Murder Wife's Ex Boyfriend Will Get New Trial

A man convicted of hiring an assassin to murder his wife’s ex-boyfriend will get a new trial. The Massachusetts Supreme Court issued the ruling today, May 8.

James E. Brescia was found guilty of murder for hiring Scott Foxworth to kill his wife’s former lover, Framingham resident Edward Schiller, in 2008.

According to authorities, Brescia hired Scott Foxworth of Dracut to murder Schiller, who had previously dated Brescia’s wife. Foxworth shot Schiller in the back of the head on Jan. 13, 2006, while Schiller sat in his car in a parking garage in Newton, near his employment.

During the trial, Brescia took the stand on his own behalf. After his first day of testimony, he suffered a stroke.

“After the jury were charged, the defendant was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that he had suffered a stroke. Testing later revealed that the stroke had occurred on the night between the first and second days of the defendant’s testimony. The jury, who never learned of the defendant’s stroke, returned guilty verdicts on both indictments,” stated court documents.

Massachusetts’ highest court ruled today, May 8, that Brescia’s stroke could have affected his credibility in front of the jury that convicted him, and he deserves a new trial.

During the second day of testimony, the court reporter noticed that Brescia “was confusing syntax, pronouns, names, and the like.”

“The fact that the defendant had been healthy on his first day of testimony created what the jury could have seen as a suspicious contrast between the defendant’s relative ease in answering his own attorney’s questions and his greater difficulty in answering those posed by the prosecutor,” wrote Judge Barbara A. Lenk for a unanimous court.

“We will continue to seek justice for Edward Schiller and have every intention of retrying the case,” said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan in a statement.

Brescia paid Foxworth $10,000, according to authorities. Foxworth is serving life in prison.

Brescia was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.