On a quiet Sunday afternoon, January 30, 2005, Antonio Frias, a 32-year-old man, was found dead in a home at 297 Swansom Road in Swansea, Massachusetts. The discovery, made just after 3 p.m. by the homeowner, Robert Paquette, revealed a shocking act of violence had taken place within the residence. Mr. Frias had been killed by a single gunshot wound to the back of his head as he lay in a bed.
The initial investigation into the homicide was handled by the Bristol County District Attorney's Office and Swansea Police. However, details were scarce, and officials at the time released very little information to the public, not even immediately confirming that a homicide had occurred. The case quickly grew cold due to a lack of physical evidence and witnesses. The firearm used in the killing was never recovered.
According to reports, Mr. Paquette, who found the body, had been at work and then went shopping before returning home.
His mother was also in the house at the time of the discovery, but due to a diminished mental capacity, she was unable to provide investigators with any useful information. In the weeks following the murder, Mr. Paquette voluntarily took and passed a polygraph test, according to his attorney.
For five years, the case languished with no new leads. Then, in January 2010, at the request of the Swansea Police Department, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office officially reopened the investigation into Antonio Frias's murder. Investigators hoped that a fresh look at the evidence and the passage of time might encourage someone with knowledge of the crime to finally come forward. A detective described the case as a "real 'who done it'" because of the profound lack of clues left at the scene.
Unlike other homicides in Swansea around that time which led to indictments and convictions, Antonio's case remained stubbornly unsolved. In one of those cases, blood evidence directly linked a suspect to the crime, leading to a guilty plea. In another, a grand jury investigation proved crucial in securing a conviction. The investigation into Antonio's death, however, had no such breakthroughs.
The case is listed on the Bristol County District Attorney's Office's website as one of its unsolved homicides. Investigators and Antonio's loved ones are still waiting for the piece of information that will solve the mystery of who killed him and why. The silence surrounding that Sunday afternoon in January 2005 has lasted for years, leaving a family without answers and a killer who has never been brought to justice.
As of early 2010, the reopened investigation was active, with both the Bristol County District Attorney's Office and the Swansea Police urging anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact them.
