Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Cumberland man was indicted by a grand jury Friday on charges that he murdered his mother, whose body the authorities found lying in her blood-stained bed in the town's Valley Falls area.

Richard Paiva, 36, of 64 Baldwin St. is named in the Providence County grand jury indictment on one count each of first-degree murder, simple assault-third offense and refusal to relinquish a telephone. The latter charge refers to his allegedly impeding the use of the phone for an emergency call, according to the attorney general's office.

A prosecutor told a judge in District Court that Paiva wore blood-covered clothes from allegedly stabbing his mother, Rita Paiva, 57, several times with knives found broken or bent near her body. Her body was located shortly after 1:30 a.m. in the 64 Baldwin St. house owned by her father, William O'Connor Jr., the police have said.

The Journal reported that Rita Paiva had told the police she was in the kitchen cooking when her son punched her, knocked her down and ripped a telephone from the wall. The police, who had responded to domestic violence reports at the address in the days before the murder, got an arrest warrant but could not locate him.

They later found him at 6 Belmont Terrace on March 30 but by that time, according to authorities, Paiva had killed his mother.

Paiva's arraignment is scheduled for June 10 in Providence County Superior Court.

 Tags  crime Cumberland RI grand jury murder Richard Paiva Rita Paiva

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