Bristol man accused of smothering grandmother with pillow, covering her head with trash bag sentenced to prison

Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that a Bristol man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve 40 years at the Adult Correctional Institutions after pleading to the 2017 murder of his 66-year-old grandmother, Eudora Gustafson.

At a hearing on October 3, 2023, Superior Court Justice Stephen P. Nugent sentenced 30-year-old Raymond Paiva IV to 60 years, with 40 years to serve at the ACI, and a 20-year suspended sentence with 60 years of probation.

On September 21, 2023, Paiva entered a guilty plea to one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, four counts of receiving stolen goods (less than $1,500), two counts of forgery, and one count of obtaining property under false pretenses (less than $1,500).

Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that on February 10, 2017, Paiva killed his grandmother by asphyxiation, before robbing her in an attempt to get money for drugs.

During the afternoon of February 10, Paiva was at his grandparents’ home on Sowams Drive in Bristol. The evidence showed that he had recently used heroin and he wanted money to purchase additional heroin.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., Paiva’s grandfather left the house to go to work, leaving his 66-year-old grandmother alone in the first floor living room. Shortly thereafter, Paiva attacked his grandmother in an attempt to gain access to the keys to her car.

Paiva attacked his grandmother, smothering her with a pillow, and covering her head with a trash bag with the drawstring drawn tightly around her neck.

Paiva then took his grandmother’s rings, additional jewelry from a bedroom safe, half-dollar coins, and her checkbook, before fleeing in her car. He then attempted to cash a check from his grandmother’s checkbook at a nearby Citizen’s bank but was unsuccessful.

At approximately 7:00 p.m., Paiva pawned his grandmother’s jewelry at a pawn shop in North Providence, and then bought heroin at a location in Providence. He was apprehended by the Providence Police Department shortly thereafter.

DNA evidence collected from the victim and the trash bag matched Paiva’s DNA.

The case against co-defendant Selena Martinez, who was charged with one count of murder, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, four counts of receiving stolen goods (less than $1,500), one count of forgery, and one count of obtaining property under false pretenses (less than $1,500), remains pending in Providence County Superior Court.

Assistant Attorney General John Moreira and Special Assistant Attorney General David Bonzagni of the Office of the Attorney General and Lieutenant Steven St. Pierre, and Detectives John Nappi, Adam Clifford, and Timothy Kearns of the Bristol Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of this case.