One-time suspect in Massachusetts highway serial killings 2 decades ago found dead

Ex-suspect in Mass. highway slayings found dead

BOSTON — A man who was once a suspect in the unsolved serial slayings of nine Massachusetts women has died, more than 20 years after the so-called “highway killings” terrorized women in the New Bedford area.

Kenneth Ponte, 61, was found dead in his New Bedford home Tuesday after a friend who was unable to reach him called police.

In 1988 and 1989, the remains of nine women — many of them drug addicts and suspected prostitutes — were discovered along highways in southeastern Massachusetts. Two other women reported missing during that time were never found.

Ponte, a former lawyer who represented several of the victims, was indicted in 1990 in the murder of one of the women. He was cleared a year later by an independent prosecutor who cited a lack of evidence.

Ponte steadfastly denied any involvement in the killings and said being called a suspect had made his life “a living hell.”

In a 1990 interview with The Associated Press, Ponte said having his name linked to the killings ruined his career as a lawyer.

“When I walk up or down any street, little kids call me murderer,” he said.

Lisa Rowell, a spokesman for Bristol District Attorney Samuel Sutter, who reopened the long-dormant investigation into the killings in 2007, said investigators do not believe Ponte’s death is suspicious. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause.

“The preliminary investigation does not indicate that there was any foul play involved,” Rowell said.

Ponte was a criminal defense and personal injury lawyer when his name became entwined in the killings.

Ponte acknowledged having a relationship with one victim, Rochelle Clifford Dopierala, and represented three of the other women as an attorney.

He was indicted for the murder of Dopierala, and then cleared the following year.

Sixteen years later, after the investigation was reopened, investigators arrived at Ponte’s former home and dug through the yard with a backhoe.

Ponte said he did not know what prompted police to dig, but the father of one of the victims said he had received a phone call from state police, who told him it was related to the highway killings probe.

Ponte said that after he was indicted, he was unable to make a living as an attorney, even though the charges had been dropped. He stopped practicing law in 1997.

Ponte’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said he lost his job in a real estate management firm in 2007, after his employer heard about authorities digging in his old yard.

“It was a terrible thing that happened to him, and he was never able to get out from underneath it,” Reddington said Wednesday.

“Wherever he went, whatever he did, he was always the accused. I think it had a horrible impact on his life. It just ruined him.”

Another suspect, Anthony DeGrazia, of Freetown, committed suicide around the time prosecutors decided to drop the charges against Ponte.

Rowell would not discuss where the investigation stands now or whether there are any new suspects.

“It’s an active investigation, and other than that, we can’t really comment,” she said.

“The district attorney is looking at every unsolved homicide.”

Associated Press Writer Ray Henry contributed to this report from Providence, R.I.