Man pleads not guilty to murder, misleading investigators in connection to 2009 cold case
A Massachusetts man has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge and other charges in connection to the death of a 23-year-old woman killed in 2009.
Prosecutors in Middlesex County, part of northeastern Massachusetts, announced the charges on April 10, indicting Heinsky Anacreon, 38, in connection to the death of 23-year-old Charline Rosemond.
Rosemond was last seen alive on April 7, 2009 in Somerville, about two miles north of Cambridge, prosecutors said. Nearly a week later on April 13, her body was found slumped in her father's car in a parking lot.
Anacreon, of Malden, was previously charged with first degree murder, misleading a police officer and misleading an attorney, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said. He pleaded not guilty to all charges on May 12, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Another man authorities say was involved, Roberto Jeune, was a friend of Rosemond and died of natural causes in Philadelphia on July 8, 2024.
On May 13, C. Henry Fasoldt, Anacreon's defense attorney, said he did not kill Rosemond.
"She was killed by someone else," Fasoldt wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "Mr. Anacreon looks forward to holding the government to its very high burden."
What happened to Charline Rosemond?
When she died, Rosemond lived with her family in Everett, about four miles from where her body was found, prosecutors said. She worked at a car dealership and according to friends and family, she had been driving her father's car until she got her own.
She planned to buy a used Lexus. Earlier that week, on April 3, 2009, she had withdrawn $4,100 to buy the car, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at the press conference.
On April 7, she left work and texted a friend, Ryan said. She texted her friend until about 9:15 p.m. that night, and she was never heard from again.
According to prosecutors, Rosemond thought of Jeune as one of her closest friends. When he found out she was looking for a Lexus, he told her he could connect her to someone. According to prosecutors, Anacreon was able to find the type of car Rosemond wanted through his job, a used car dealership in Somerville.
Investigators said that based on evidence they found, Anacreon and Jeune told Rosemond she had to pay in cash and talked her into bringing the cash to a remote parking lot, where she was shot and killed.
According to Ryan, Anacreon's boss had a no cash only policy and accepted bank checks and other forms of payment when he sold cars.
She had been shot in the head from behind, and the bullet went through the headrest of the driver's seat and no cash was found at the scene, Ryan said.
Prosecutors: Suspects shared 'a celebratory bottle' of champagne after killing
Although both Jeune and Anacreon spoke to police shortly after her death and denied any involvement, Anacreon allegedly admitted to a close confidant that he supplied the .44 Magnum firearm used to kill her, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said he also admitted to throwing the weapon into a river, although the weapon was never recovered. When investigators searched Jeune's home, they found no gun, but they did find two gun cases and a pair of latex gloves, Ryan said.
"Jeune did not have a license to possess firearms and did not work in the medical field, so there was no ready explanation or possession of either of those," Ryan said. "Also recovered during that execution of that search warrant was an empty bottle of Moët champagne."
Anacreon had been seen driving the same type of Lexus the victim was buying in April of 2009, and he also told his bosses that he was showing the car to a potential buyer, Ryan said.
Just after the shooting on April 7, 2009, Jeune and Anacreon "shared a celebratory bottle of Moët champagne," Ryan said, adding that the bottle was found while investigators searched Jeune's home.
Defendant blamed co-conspirator, court documents show
Ryan said Anacreon tried to hide his involvement in the woman's death by telling her family and investigators he wasn't there and had no idea what happened.
According to court documents obtained by USA TODAY, Anacreon told police on May 21, 2024 that Jeune killed Rosemond. He said he didn't participate in the planned robbery or murder, and said he heard Jeune asking other people for guns before the murder. He said Jeune never asked him for a weapon, though.
Calling Rosemond a "promising and hard-working young woman," Ryan said her life was cut short.
"We allege today that she was taken advantage of and murdered by two men who were willing to take her life for $4,000," she said. "They killed her in cold blood. They celebrated the murder with a bottle of champagne, and they left her body in a parking lot for days, while her family frantically searched for her."
Why did it take so long to charge someone?
When asked about it taking 16 years to charge the defendant with so much evidence gathered, Ryan said prosecutors need to be certain when they move forward with charges because once charges are filed, "the clock starts to run."
"It is a momentous thing in anyone's life for us to be charging them with murder," she said, adding that although investigators executed search warrants and conducted interviews, they did not have enough evidence to secure an indictment.
Ryan said that people often don't realize the hundreds of hours and thousands of tests that have been put into these cases behind the scenes.
"We have made a commitment in this office that we will not give up on these cases, and I think we met that commitment," she said.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
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