WORCESTER — A Leicester man was arrested in Haverhill Friday for fatally shooting a woman inside a massage parlor in Worcester on Thanksgiving.
Marcel D. Santos-Padgett, 31, of Leicester, was arrested on a warrant after the clerk magistrate’s office of the Worcester District Court found probable cause to arrest Santos-Padgett on a charge of armed assault with intent to murder, the Telegram & Gazette reported.
Police say Santos-Padgett shot the woman in the head. (The victim’s name has not been released yet).
According to Worcester police, on Nov. 23, at about 11:37 a.m., police were dispatched to Angie’s Bodywork Spa at 383 Pleasant Street following a report of a “female experiencing a possible medical issue.”
When officers arrived on scene, they were flagged down by a man who directed them to an unconscious woman. Police gave the woman medical aid until she was pronounced dead by Worcester paramedics.
(Courtesy Photo/Rick Sinclair of the Telegram & Gazette)
Worcester police deemed the death “suspicious” and began their investigation, which lead to Santos-Padgett, who was caught on surveillance footage at the spa and whose license plate was obtained by a license plate reader in the vicinity of the massage parlor.
“Officers viewed surveillance video, got a clear photo of Santos-Padgett, identified him with a CJIS [Criminal Justice Information Services] check of his vehicle in the vicinity which was caught on a license plate reader of his license plate,” police wrote in court documents obtained by the Telegram & Gazette. The documents did not specify a motive for the crime or the vocation of the victim.
The Haverhill address where Santos-Padgett was arrested on Friday, 4 Columbia Park, is where his children and their mother live.
In Worcester police’s warrant application, Santos-Padgett’s residential address was listed as 7 Marshall Street in Leicester. According to the Telegram & Gazette, court documents from 2022 indicate that is the home of Santos-Padgett’s grandfather.
On Friday, the door of Angie’s Body Work Spa was locked, although a light was on inside the building. On the door of the spa was a handwritten note that read, “We know almost nothing about the case. Please contact the police officers for information and do not bother us. Thank you. 😊”
Light on inside Angies Spa 383 Pleasant St. in #Worcester, site of fatal Thanksgiving shooting. No one came to locked door when I rang, and this message asking not to be bothered is posted out front. @telegramdotcom pic.twitter.com/MMBT4LKSlc
— Brad Petrishen (@BPetrishenTG) November 24, 2023
This isn’t Santos-Padgett’s first brush with the law. In March 2021, Santos-Padgett was confined to home GPS monitoring after Worcester police allege he pistol-whipped two men in the face inside a home on Stoneland Road. Santos-Padgett was arrested several hours after the assault even though he fled to Maine.
In April 2022, Worcester District Court Judge Michael G. Allard-Madaus sentenced Santos-Padgett to two years in prison after he plead guilty to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm without an FID card.
While he was on GPS monitoring before he plead guilty, Santos-Padgett was allowed to visit his children in Haverhill, continue working as a DoorDash delivery driver and attend church at Mount Sinai Church of God and Christ in Worcester on Sundays.
Allard-Madaus ordered Santos-Padgett to serve the first six month of his sentence, and suspended the rest of his sentence for three contingent years upon his completion of probation, which was scheduled to end in April 2025. There are no court documents that indicate Santos-Padgett had violated probation prior to the murder charge. The conditions of his probation for the pistol-whipping incident were random drug/alcohol screenings, anger management classes, and that he have no contact with the victims.
