1.6 min readBy Published On: September 23rd, 2015Categories: News1 Comment on Barbara Coyne murder trial to begin on Thursday

On April 16th, 2012 – Marathon Monday – Barbara Coyne, 67, was found stabbed to death in her home on East Seventh Street in South Boston.  It was home invasion and robbery that went terribly wrong. 

Less than a week later, South Boston resident Timothy Kostka was charged with first degree murder for the crime.  It is alleged that Kostka broke into the Coyne’s home for some high-end fishing equipment – that belonged to Barbara Coyne’s son, Rick Coyne – to steal and then sell.  (CIS featured Rick Coyne as our Character of the Month this past March – https://caughtinsouthie.com/people/characterofmonth/rick-coyne  Rick ran 50 miles in one day in his mother’s memory.)  Kostka pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.  

Opening arguments in this trial are expected to begin on Thursday, September 24th at Suffolk Superior Court.  

Back in 2014, prosecutors had requested that Timothy Kostka’s twin brother Christopher share a sample of his DNA contending the genetic information gained from such a test could help prove the case.  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against it stating that it would violate Christopher Kostka’s constitutional rights. 

According to an article in Tuesday’s Patriot Ledger, Christopher Kostka was cited by State Police for hitting and killing a man with his car.  “State Police recently cited Christopher Kostka, 30, of South Boston for vehicular homicide by negligent operation in the July 12 death of Wayne A. Guilherme, 65, of Braintree. Investigators said Guilherme was trying to cross Quincy Shore Drive near Wollaston Beach when he was struck by a Toyota Corolla driven by Kostka.” 

In a bizarre coincidence, the July 12th accident happened almost directly in front of Rick Coyne’s home in Quincy.  

If Christopher Kostka is convicted of vehicular homicide by negligent operation, he could face between 30 days and 2 1/2 years in jail.  

Timothy Kostka faces life in prison.  

One Comment

  1. Tommy September 24, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    Drug addicts are dangerous people. They are not "sick". They do not have a "disease". They are evil people who know what the downside of using drugs is yet they do it anyway. Its not like somebody holds them captive for six months and shoots heroin into the arm every day, and then turns them loose. They make the conscious decision to do it. Then they rob and hurt people once they become addicted. People overlook the fact that it is a crime and have put this "disease" label on what it really is in an attempt to make it easier to deal with when one of us or our kids become drug fueled maggots. "You can't blame my piece of shit daughter/son for her actions. She has a disease.".

     By the way, this robbery didn't go terribly wrong. The very act of committing a robbery is terribly wrong in the first place. Stop wasting my tax money on these criminals. Put them in jail for the crimes they commit. Enough is enough.

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