Plymouth County murderer with gender dysphoria transferred to woman’s prison, denied parole

BROCKTON – Parole has been denied to a man who brutally beat a 25-year-old man to death with a hammer, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has announced.

Yesterday, the state Parole Board issued its decision against parole for Edward Voisine, now known as Teresa Brugliera, now 57-years-old. In December, 1989, Brugliera was found guilty of First-Degree Murder, Burglary, Larceny from a Building, Larceny of a Motor Vehicle and Burning of a Motor Vehicle, in connection with the brutal murder of David Regan, 25, in March, 1988.

According to the Plymouth County DA, on the weekend of March 12, 1988, a 19-year-old Brugliera called an ex-girlfriend and relayed to her that they were at a home in Whitman and “he felt like he wanted to kill someone.” After abruptly ending the call, Brugliera called back and stated, “It’s done. I did it.”

In the days following the homicide, Brugliera drove the victim’s car and kept several items stolen from Regan’s home, including several articles of clothing, a watch and the victim’s credit cards. Brugliera later enlisted the help of co-defendants to burn Regan’s car in an effort to destroy evidence. When Regan’s burned vehicle was discovered, law enforcement contacted the victim’s mother to inquire about the car. Regan’s mother rushed to her son’s home, where she found him deceased. An autopsy confirmed that Regan died as result of blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators tied Brugliera to the murder, and he was arrested by Massachusetts State Police on March 21, 1988.

The defendant’s first-degree murder conviction resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole. However, in 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in Commonwealth v. Mattis determined that sentences of life without parole are unconstitutional as applied to “emerging adults” between the ages of 18 – 20. As a result of this decision, Brugliera became eligible for parole.

“The family of murder victim David Regan has been waiting for a decision from the Parole Board for over 17 months,” DA Cruz said. “To me, that is unacceptable. and the extraordinary delay in issuing its decision only compounded this family’s understandable anxiety and grief. The Mattis ruling was not a mandate for the mass release of murderers. Our office will continue to fight on behalf of victims in all of its cases, and continue to oppose the release of violent criminals who have forever harmed those in our communities.”

Brugliera appeared before the state Parole Board on January 16, 2025, where the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, and three family members of Regan testified in opposition to Brugliera’s release.

In their decision, the Parole Board stated, “Ms. Brugliera identified complex childhood trauma and early feelings of gender incongruence, leading to mental health and substance misuse as causative factors in committing this offense. Ms. Brugliera states she takes responsibility for committing the offense; however, she maintains her memory was significantly impaired due to substances and, therefore, she cannot provide details of the offense, and for many years, questioned if she even committed the offense.”

Brugliera, who has a total of 45 disciplinary reports while incarcerated for the past 36 years, was recently transferred to Framingham Women’s Prison, where the board said, “she is engaged in treatment for gender dysphoria and trauma.” The board added, “Ms. Brugliera is also now engaged in additional rehabilitative programs, and she has opportunities to further address her need areas via more specialized treatment. The Board is of the opinion that she needs, and would benefit from, further treatment within the Department of Correction.”

The board denied parole with a review in three years from the date of the hearing, January 16, 2025.