Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced that a Somerville man has been found guilty this afternoon of first degree murder for the 2009 homicide of Christopher Souza, 24, of Somerville.

Michael Barnett, 33, of Somerville, was convicted by a Middlesex Superior Court Jury of first degree murder and armed robbery for the November 22, 2009 death of Christopher Souza.  Middlesex Superior Court Judge Heidi Brieger scheduled sentencing for tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

 “The defendant has now been held responsible for the drug-fueled murder of Christopher Souza,” District Attorney Ryan said.  “I commend the determination and commitment of the Somerville Police and the State Police Detectives who continued to pursue new leads and evidence in this case to obtain justice and closure for Christopher’s family and friends.  We hope this verdict brings them some peace and healing.”

On the morning of November 23, 2009, the victim was discovered by his mother lying motionless on his living room floor.  The victim had several cords wrapped around his neck and was determined to be deceased.  An autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be strangulation by ligature and the manner of death to be homicide.

An investigation was immediately launched by Somerville Police and State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.   During that investigation, it was discovered that the defendant had been looking to purchase drugs on the night of November 22, 2009, but did not have any money to do so.  The defendant went to the victim’s home to call his drug dealer.  While there, the defendant strangled the victim to death with the cords from his Xbox and Playstation video game consoles and then stole the victim’s game systems which he later sold to purchase narcotics.

The defendant sold the Playstation for $50, and used the money to buy drugs.  Police were able to confirm the IP address of the Playstation and contacted the buyer who had activated Souza’s online account.  The buyer told police that he had purchased the game system from Barnett.

Barnett was indicted March 28, 2013 by a Middlesex Grand Jury on charges of murder, armed robbery and witness intimidation.  A co-defendant, Kelly Murray, 32, of Somerville, the defendant’s girlfriend, was charged with witness intimidation (two counts) for allegedly lying to police during the investigation.  Murray was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on March 29, 2013 where Assistant Clerk Magistrate Matt Day ordered her held on $5,000 cash bail with conditions to stay away from any witnesses and comply with current conditions of probation on an unrelated case.  Upon bail review, Murray’s bail was lowered to $2,500 and she was placed on house arrest with GPS monitoring.

Murray’s charges are currently pending.

The prosecutors assigned to the case are Assistant District Attorney Chris Tarrant and Assistant District Attorney Anne Paruti.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Anne Foley.  The Paralegal is Jaime Lepizzera.