Hampden County News

A Hampden Superior Court jury has found Marion Szlachta guilty of first degree murder for killing his 43-year-old roommate with a baseball bat in 2008.

A Chicopee man has been found guilty of first degree murder with extreme atrocity and cruelty in the baseball bat beating death of his housemate.

John M. "J.R." Raschilla stands in front of his home at 160 Groveland St., Springfield, where yellow ribbons adorn the trees out front.

It's your money -- and your safety -- and 22News is watching it. The economic recession coupled with lower than expected tax collections have forced Governor Deval Patrick to make massive cuts to the state budget.

The owner of a Longmeadow massage parlor pleaded innocent Thursday in District Court to knowingly allowing the business to be used for prostitution.

Xiuli Li, of Springfield, right, is lead away by a Hampden County Court officer following her arraignment in Springfield District Court Thursday on prostitution-related charges.

Al Valenta, a tattoo artist at Loonar Tattoo in Hadley, and owner Amity Perman talk Thursday about Wednesday's police raids on two nearby massage businesses.

Xiuli Li, of Springfield, right, is lead away by a Hampden County Court officer following her arraignment in Springfield District Court Thursday on prostitution-related charges.

A woman sits in the back seat of a state police cruiser after being taken out of Jane's Spa massage parlor at 206 Russell St., Hadley.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County has been awarded a $240,000 federal grant to expand its work with the children of incarcerated parents.

Indictments have come down against a Springfield shop owner and another man a little more than a year after the 2008 shooting death of a 28-year-old man.

U.S. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, greets deputy commander of the Army Legal Command, Stephen E. Spelman of East Longmeadow, right, before the Soldier On dinner at the Long Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke Thursday.

The taint created by embattled Holyoke police detective Paul C. Barkyoumb has begun to seep into the Hampden County district attorney's office, as two drug prosecutions hinging on his credibility shriveled this week.

Hundreds of new jobs are coming to Hampden County. The economy may be down, but Westfield and Home Depot are breaking ground on a $30 million facility.

A Springfield man accused of killing a neighbor by firing several shots through the front window of her home because he thought someone living there had stolen his TV has been indicted on a murder charge.

Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett has announced that Daniel Horne has been indicted in the death of Brittany Perez.

Alex Valle's past caught up with him this week when his prior crimes meant his new conviction on gun charges landed him a mandatory 15-year state prison sentence.

HAP Housing excutive director Peter A.Gagliardi and keynote speaker Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution, answer questions for reporters prior to a forum on housing at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke Monday.

Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan in an October, 2006 file photo.

The recent murders have police working overtime as they scramble to get control over the city.