LOWELL — A 28-year-old Chelsea man accused of gunning down the sons of a retired Lowell police sergeant wore black-rimmed glasses held together by tape and barely uttered a word as he pleaded not guilty in Lowell Superior Court on Monday to two counts of murder.
Standing silently next to defense attorney Liam Scully, Dara Poum never looked at family and friends of brothers Joseph, 29, and Keith Callahan, 35, who could be heard sobbing in the back of Lowell Superior Court.
Poum pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, home invasion and possession of a firearm charges.
Both sides agreed to have Poum held without bail, so prosecutor Stephen Loughlin didn’t need to explain to Judge Heidi Brieger the details of the shootings on Aug. 10 that left the Callahan brothers — sons of retired Lowell Police Sgt. Richard Callahan — dead in their 105 Andrews St. apartment.
After Poum’s Aug. 20 arrest, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said investigators found that Poum had entered the Andrews Street apartment at around 2 a.m. demanding to see someone who was not there. Poum allegedly shot the brothers during an altercation, Ryan said.
Ryan said there is no evidence that the parties knew each other, but police and prosecutors have remained mum about a motive.
Crime-scene investigators found a discarded cigarette at the scene. The State Police Crime Lab, with help from the Rhode Island State Police Crime Lab, matched the DNA on the cigarette to Poum, Ryan said.
Poum was sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with a 2005 drive-by shooting in Providence, R.I. but was released early in 2012.
By September 2012, Poum was charged in an assault case in Lowell. The victim told polcie Poum was outside a Gorham Street convenience store harassing customers. When the victim pulled up in his car, Poum allegedly confronsted the driver, who refused to back down. Poum was accused of hitting the victim in the left shoulder with a metal pipe before being restrained by bystanders.
He failed to show at his Oct. 1, 2012 arraignment on the charges, but was stopped on Jan. 27, 2013 by the State Police for traffic violations and the warrant in the Lowell case popped up.
Poum posted $250 cash bail. A trial was scheduled for March 8, 2013, but Poum never showed. His bail was forfeited and an arrest warrant issued.
Poum didn’t appear back in court until his arraignment in Lowell District Court on murder charges. A conviction on first-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Poum’s next court date is a pretrial conference on April 19.
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