SEGUIN ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA / / SEARCH AGAIN FAILS TO FIND TWO

By Mary Frain; Staff Reporter
May 2, 1992

FRAMINGHAM - A subdued and bandaged Holliston man pleaded not guilty to a charge that he murdered his wife but was silent on the whereabouts of their two children at his arraignment yesterday in Framingham District Court.

Kenneth Seguin, 35, hobbled into the courthouse through a side entrance. He was dressed in a white shirt and dark pants. One foot was bandaged. He also had bandages around his neck and wrists and a row of stitches on his right temple.In the courtroom, he ducked out of the view of spectators, sitting on the floor behind a wood barrier.

Judge Paul F. Healy Jr. refused to release Seguin on bail or send him to Bridgewater State Hospital for observation, as requested by his lawyer, Thomas Giblin of Brookline.

Healy based his decision on testimony by Dr. Nancy Gregg, a court-appointed psychiatrist who evaluated Seguin's competency before the arraignment.

Gregg testified that Seguin had no history of treatment for a mental illness and showed no evidence of hallucinations or disorganized thought patterns, and that he understood the court processes. However, he reported memory gaps and suicidal thoughts, she said.

"This man is in desperate need of some psychiatric treatment," Giblin said. "It's a ridiculous decision."

Asked if Seguin had information that could help find his children, Giblin said, "He answers when I ask him and he gives me any information that he can give me."

Giblin said he would go back to court next week to see if another judge would commit Seguin to Bridgewater.

Giblin said the problems that have descended on the Seguin family are out of character with their past. Seguin was "a model father" and was very concerned about the safety of his children. "What he said about his wife is that he misses her very much," Giblin said.

NO ANSWERS

Seguin did not respond to shouted questions about the whereabouts of his children as he left the courthouse, escorted by sheriffs who ushered him into a van to be taken to the Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge.

After the arraignment, David P. Linsky, assistant district attorney for Middlesex County, said that based on the search of the family's house at Elm Street and Irving Place and two motor vehicles there, "We have a case against Mr. Seguin for the first-degree murder of his wife."

Mary Ann Seguin, 35, was killed in her bed with a single blow to the head by a hatchet, ax or some other blunt object after 9:30 or 10 p.m. Tuesday and before 8 a.m. Wednesday, Linsky said. Her body was then wrapped in linens and towels and dumped in the Sudbury River, Linsky said.

Police do not know whether the children were home at the time of the murder, he said.

Linsky would not say whether police had found evidence about the children's disappearance. "I have no knowledge about where the children are or what their condition is and that's how I want to leave it," he said.

Linsky said he would not discuss a possible motive in the death of Mrs. Seguin.

CASE CONTINUED

The case was continued to May 21 for a status hearing. Linsky said the district attorney's office would seek a grand jury indictment on the murder charge.

Seven-year-old Daniel Seguin and his 5-year-old sister, Amy, remain the focus of an intensive search. An air, land and water search of Hopkinton State Park ended yesterday, but investigators pledged to continue looking for the children until they are found.

Linsky asked that anyone with information about the children contact the Holliston or Hopkinton police departments or state police.

Asked if he believes the children are still alive, Linsky said, "We pray that they are."

The children were last seen with their father late Tuesday, Linsky said, but he declined to elaborate. Police sources have searched in the Falmouth area where friends of the family had a cottage. Reports have placed Seguin and the children on the Cape the day of the murder.

BODY DISCOVERED

Mary Ann Seguin's body was discovered about 8 a.m. Wednesday floating in the Sudbury River near the River Street Bridge in Southboro.

Two fishermen saw Kenneth Seguin wandering dazed in the woods about one mile away, with apparently self-inflicted wounds to the wrists, throat and ankle.

The third day of the search of Hopkinton State Park failed to turn up clues about the two missing children.

After a massive effort Thursday involving about 250 people, yesterday's scaled-back effort included more than a dozen police dogs, a diving team, and helicopters.

Three divers spent much of the morning searching a stream that flows into the Hopkinton Reservoir.

Around 11 a.m., a Shrewsbury Police Department boat slowly towed a pair of divers around the edges of the reservoir. A motorized raft also skimmed along the shoreline in search of clues.

SEVEN ZONES

Meanwhile, state police employed more than a dozen canine units in another search of the forest, dividing the 1,500 acres into seven zones.

At 3:10 p.m., the final helicopter flight took off from the state police command post on the park's highest hill. State police Sgt. Mark Delaney said it was unlikely authorities would return today to continue their search.

"Nothing has changed," Delaney said. "We've searched the river and the reservoir, and this flight will be the last today. What we're doing now is following up on any calls that we get. It's tough, because a lot of those calls are anonymous ones, but you don't want to ignore even an anonymous call at this stage."

State police said they have received several anonymous tips. Delaney said state police divers, for example, were sent to a marshy area in Newton yesterday afternoon after a call, but came up empty. While Delaney would not elaborate on what other sites were been searched, it was clear that no further clues had been found in Hopkinton.

The search was called off about 4 p.m.

Copyright (c) 1992 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.