Central Falls man will serve 60 years in prison for a fatal stabbing. What to know.
PROVIDENCE – A judge on Wednesday sentenced a Central Falls man to serve 75 years in prison for fatally stabbing a man over an argument about paying an escort.
Malcolm Querido, 37, was sentenced to 60 years to serve for second-degree murder in the death of Robert Bullard, 38, of Medway, Massachusetts in 2014. Plus, he received a consecutive 25 years, with 15 to serve, and 25 years suspended with probation as a habitual offender.
The sentence was given by Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause gave Malcolm Querido, 37, 60 years to serve for second-degree murder in the death of Robert Bullard, 38, of Medway, Mass., in 2014.
A jury in February convicted Querido of a single count of second-degree murder after a five-day trial before Krause. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, court records show.
Background on the case:
According to the Providence police, Querido was working as a pimp when he stabbed Bullard to death in a payment dispute on Sept. 7, 2014.
Bullard responded to an escort advertisement on Backpage.com and arranged to meet a woman at an Allston Street apartment.
Querido heard an argument between Bullard and the woman and burst into the room to stab Bullard to death, prosecutors said.
In 2015, New York City police arrested Querido on a gun charge and discovered he was wanted for Bullard’s slaying. After he was found not-guilty in the New York gun case, he was returned to Rhode Island.
Go deeper: Dispute over DNA
When a DNA sample was forcibly collected from Querido while he was in prison, his lawyer argued that he had his rights violated.
Krause ruled that the sample should be suppressed after viewing video taken of the extraction.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned that ruling in 2020.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Eric Batista and Special Assistant Attorney General Alison Bittl. Retired Providence Detective Robert Washburn, Detective Bill Mattera, and retired Bureau of Criminal Investigations Detective Doug Allin led the investigation.
Elizabeth Payette, who did not respond to inquiries, represented Querido. A notice of appeal was filed in the case.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Malcolm Querido of Central Falls sentenced to decades in prison
