Man convicted on all charges in Fall River court concerning Easton murder

A 50-year-old Florida man was convicted late Tuesday afternoon in Fall River Superior Court by a jury of his peers of the November 2016 murder of 35-year-old Daniel Gerald Smith Jr. in Easton, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Michael Noguera, formerly of Lehigh Acres, Fla., was convicted of First Degree Murder, Armed Robbery, Larceny of a Motor Vehicle and Carrying an Illegal Firearm. The jury returned its verdict just before 5 pm yesterday and sentencing has been scheduled for February 25th at 2 p.m. The trial lasted two full weeks and the jury deliberated for most of the day Tuesday before returning its verdicts. The defendant remains held in jail pending his sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Co-First Assistant District Attorney Karen O’Sullivan and Assistant District Attorney Jeanne Veenstra.

At approximately 1pm on November 8, 2016, Easton police responded to a 911 call from two juveniles who were riding their bikes on Pond Street in Easton when they encountered the victim lying in a wooded area. When first responders arrived, they located Smith and found him to be unconscious and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the back of his head. The victim was rushed to an area hospital, where he died three days later.

After some investigation, it was determined that the defendant and the victim had driven together from Florida to Massachusetts before having a falling out over a dispute about money. After shooting the victim, Noguera used the victim’s vehicle to flee the state. The vehicle was recovered three days after the shooting in a motel parking lot in North Carolina and the defendant was apprehended in South Carolina on November 12.

“I want to thank the jury for their time and effort in this case. The evidence strongly supported the verdict. This was a chilling murder by the defendant, committed against someone who was supposed to be his friend,” District Attorney Quinn said. “I want to thank the prosecutors and investigators for their effort in this case. There was a lot of evidence, including voluminous text messages and cell phone records that had to be presented to the jury.”