Corey Thompson’s body was found Feb. 25 under I-93 near Albany Street.
Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro
The accused killer of a popular stylist for a Newbury Street salon nodded his head in court Wednesday morning as a prosecutor told a judge how the man stabbed the salon worker eight times and left him under an interstate ramp.
Christopher Powell, 39, of Everett, was ordered held without bail during his arraignment for murder. Powell was arrested Tuesday, about a month after a passerby discovered the body of 44-year-old Corey Thompson on a gravelly plot of land under an Interstate 93 ramp near Albany Street.
Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin said the two men got into a fight during which Thompson punched and assaulted Powell. The men were seen on video surveillance fighting. As Zabin told the judge that at some point Powell pulled a knife and stabbed Thompson eight times in the torso, Powell nodded his head and mouthed “I love you” to his mother and girlfriend, who attended the hearing.
According to court documents, video surveillance from a nearby apartment building showed Thompson in a verbal and physical fight with Powell. Troopers investigating the incident interviewed three witnesses who said they saw the two running near Harrison Avenue and William Mullins Way at about 5 a.m. Feb. 25. The witnesses said they saw Thompson punch Powell, and Powell shout, “Don’t hit me. I’ll give you the money.”
Powell’s blood was found on a fence near the area where Thompson’s body was found and on a door handle of Thompson’s car.
Lawyers would not comment on how the two men knew each other.
When troopers arrested Powell, he told them he was taking Oxycodone.
Powell’s attorney suggested that his client acted in self-defense.
“There appears to be an issue of self-defense, even from what the prosecutor mentioned,” said Attorney Michael Bourbeau.
Thompson, who lived in the South End, worked at a popular Newbury Street salon, according to his obituary.
His sister and niece attended the court hearing.
When asked before the hearing what it would be like to see the man that allegedly killed her brother, Patricia Russell hesitated then answered.
“What I want to do [to him] I don’t think they’ll let me,” she said, adding that it had been a while since she talked to her brother. “I’m hoping it’ll make sense, but I don’t know if it ever will.”
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