Man Charged With Killing Nurse In Braintree Hid Rifle In Box, Prosecutors Say

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    QUINCY, MA (WBZ) — The man charged with killing his former neighbor at her home in Braintree used a box to hide his rifle, prosecutors said.

Robert Bonang, 61, of Marshfield, faced a Quincy District Court judge in a remote electronic arraignment on murder and firearms charges Thursday morning. He was ordered held without bail.

Prosecutor Greg Connor said Bonang disguised himself as a UPS driver Wednesday and used a delivery box to hide the rifle he was carrying when he went to Laurie Melchionda’s house on Howie Road just before noon and shot her several times. She was rushed to South Shore Hospital where she died.

In court Thursday, Connor said a young girl who was walking with the children she was babysitting told police she saw Bonang before the shooting and noticed his odd disguise.

“She let him walk in front of her because she was concerned about him. He began to go to 54 Howie Street. He rang the doorbell frantically. She walked away with the children, heard screaming, and turned around and saw the man shooting at Mrs. Melchionda with the gun from the box,” Connor said in court.

Bonang stayed at the scene after the shooting until police arrived and arrested him.

Melchionda, 59, was married and had three adult children. She was well-known in Braintree, where she was a school nurse for more than 20 years and a member of the board of health. She was most recently Weston’s director of health services and a school nurse there.

Bonang is a former neighbor who lived across the street from Melchionda, but Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Bonang had not lived there for six years.

According to I-Team sources, Bonang and Melchionda had a history of issues. Morrissey said police had been to the neighborhood in the past, but he did not know of any recent dispute between them.

Bonang is due back in court July 17.

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