Police Denying Arrest of Suspect in Shooting of Pregnant Woman

Police on Sunday denied published reports that they had arrested a main suspect in the shooting of a pregnant woman and her husband last month.

William Bennett, 39, of Boston’s Mission Hill section, where the shootings occurred, was arrested at his girlfriend’s home in suburban Burlington on a traffic violation, Burlington police said Saturday.

The Boston Sunday Herald cited unidentified police sources as saying that Bennett was a chief suspect in the attack that left attorney Carol Stuart dead and her husband, Charles, seriously wounded.

The Boston Sunday Globe also reported that sources familiar with the case said that police were focusing on Bennett.

But Joseph Dunford, deputy chief of detectives for Boston police, said in a statement released Sunday that no arrest had been made in the Stuart case. He refused to comment on the newspaper reports.

Pauline Bennett, mother of the man who was arrested, said that her son was a suspect in the shooting.

“He’s been in trouble before. He knew he was a suspect. He was nervous and upset about it,” she said.

Carol Stuart, 30, was shot in the head by a man who abducted her and her husband as they were leaving Brigham and Womens’ Hospital after a childbirth preparation class.

She died shortly after their son, Christopher, was delivered by Cesarean section. The infant survived for more than two weeks, but succumbed to a respiratory ailment Thursday. His death was ruled a homicide.

Charles Stuart, 29, was in guarded condition in Boston City Hospital after surgery Saturday. Hospital officials would not give a reason for the surgery.

Bennett has served separate prison terms for shooting two police officers, the Herald reported.

Charles Stuart told police that the assailant mistook him for a police officer because the couple had a cellular telephone in their car.

Bennett’s girlfriend, Faye Nelson, told the Sun of Lowell newspaper in a telephone interview that Bennett was with her at the time of the shootings.

“He didn’t do it,” she said.