28-year-old man pleads not guilty in brutal Fall River double murder case

A Fall River man was held without bail Monday in Fall River Superior Court in the murder of two other city men.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, III, Fall River Police were dispatched to the area of 90 Aetna Street at 8:50 p.m. on June 10th for a report of shots fired. 

Upon arrival, police located an unresponsive male who was not breathing, laying on the sidewalk between 90 and 104 Aetna Street covered in blood with significant trauma to his face.  Officers on scene attempted to render medical aid. 

Officers then located a second male lying on the ground in the southeast corner of 99 Aetna Street.  Fall River EMS arrived on scene and noted obvious signs of death for both males.

The two men were identified as 20-year-old Pablo Henrique Rocha-Dasilva of Whitman, MA and 19-year-old Eduardo Cardosa DaSilva of Fall River, MA. 

As the decedents were located, Massachusetts State Police Troopers assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office encountered the suspect, 28-year-old Vitor Francisco Gomes of Fall River, MA, approximately one block away from the Crime Scene.  As police approached the suspect, they noted he was covered in blood.  After a short foot pursuit, they found the suspect in possession of a bag that contained a firearm and ammunition. 

Francisco Gomes was taken into custody and was indicted on August 13th on two counts of Murder and Carrying a Firearm Without a License. 

Court records show that he was arraigned Monday in the Fall River Superior Court where he pled not guilty and was held without bail.

DA Quinn stated previously at the District Court arraignment that, the murder scene was one of the worst that he had ever seen. One victim was allegedly shot in his car, dragged onto the street, and beaten in the head with cobblestones. The second man was killed by a pitchfork to the back of the head.

Francisco Gomes has a pretrial conference scheduled for September 28th.

For more details on this case, click here.