Copyright The Boston Globe
“I have watched him sit here in this courtroom, quiet and timid, as if he couldn’t possibly have done what he did,” Melissa Fidalgo, Kerri’s mother, said to the judge before sentencing. “But I know the truth. I know how savage, how horrific and how violent his actions were. I hate that he thought he had the right to take my daughter’s life. I hate that he took her from us, from the family that loved her so deeply, from the future she was building, and from the world that was brighter because she was in it.” Baglini said little in Tuesday’s hearing, giving short answers to Judge Raffi N. Yessayan’s questions to ensure he understood his plea and sentence. Baglini’s attorney, Michael Hussey, read a statement on his behalf. “I’m here today on his behalf simply to express this acceptance of responsibility, his regret and remorse and his desire that his guilty plea will be some consolation to the family and friends of Ms. Fidalgo,” Hussey said. The attorney said Baglini’s history of mental health issues and substance abuse was “probably of little concern to anyone in this room, and probably of little value to this court.” Baglini stared blankly ahead for the whole hearing, never looking at the gallery, which was filled with more than two dozen people there to support the Fidalgo family. At one point, when Fidalgo’s mother and sisters rose to speak, Baglini retreated to a corner of a holding area behind Plexiglass, out of sight for most in the courtroom. The judge ordered him to stand up and step forward. “Whatever other issues he may have, he’s a batterer,” Yessayan said later, near the end of the hearing. “He’s a domestic abuser. I look at his record, and that’s clear. That’s why I didn’t let him hide in the corner.” In 2019, Baglini was charged with rape and strangulation after his then-wife told police he assaulted her in their Rhode Island home. While that case languished and Baglini was out on bail, he was accused of a raft of new crimes in Massachusetts. Arrested nearly a dozen times, he was charged with another rape, beating two homeless men, attempting to push a window air conditioning unit onto a partner’s head, and ignoring judges’ orders to leave his victims alone. He served some jail time in some of these cases after pleading guilty to reduced charges. In May, with the murder case pending, Fidalgo’s family spoke to the Globe about the pain of losing Kerri, known for her kindness and cheerful spirit. On Tuesday, they arrived as they have for every court hearing in the case, clad in black and checkered Vans sneakers, Kerri’s signature look. Brittany Grimes, Baglini’s ex-wife, said Tuesday that her thoughts were with Fidalgo’s loved ones. “My heart is definitely going out to Kerri’s family today,” she said. “They’re on my mind. I’m hoping that they’re doing all right.” Grimes met Baglini in high school, reconnected with him on Facebook in 2017 and married him a few months later. But within a week of the wedding, she recalled, Baglini’s personality shifted from loving to volatile. His abuse became physical, often with no provocation, she said. The last time he attacked her, she fled. In 2019, Baglini was indicted in Rhode Island on rape, strangulation and assault charges. For the last six years, Grimes has watched her case stall while Baglini picked up new charges in Massachusetts. Grimes said she hopes Tuesday’s outcome will finally allow for closure in her own case, which has been difficult to find with the potential of a trial looming. “In the back of my head, I know I might need to testify. So I know I can’t move on,” she said. “I know I need to try to keep these traumatic experiences fresh in my mind.” A spokesman for the Rhode Island attorney general’s office could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Grimes hopes Baglini is never released. “I would hope the parole board would never find him eligible to be released based on what he’s done not just to Kerri but all the other victims as well,” she said. After the hearing, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III told reporters that he hopes the minimum 25-year sentence brings some measure of consolation to Fidalgo’s family. The Fidalgo sisters and their mother said they would carry on Kerri’s legacy of kindness, patience and optimism. One of Kerri’s younger sisters, Jacquelyn Fidalgo, told the court that nobody was present to support Baglini because the only person who would have done so was Kerri, who “believed in second chances” and saw the good in everyone. Jacquelyn recalled that one hour before the murder, she sent Kerri a selfie wearing a dress she planned to wear to a wedding she would attend with Kerri. Kerri replied with advice on how to style her hair. “I did get to wear that dress the following week, but not to the wedding with Kerri,” she said tearfully. “As I wore that dress standing beside her casket, I thought about how right Kerri was about how I needed to style my hair. I did it for her. I just wish she had been there to see it.”
