Homeward bound

As I arrived at Boston Logan Airport for my flight home after seeing Neil Entwistle jailed for life, I couldn't help but think of the double-murderer making the same journey almost two and a half years ago. 

My cab passed through the central parking garage where Entwistle abandoned his BMW X3 on the morning of January 21, 2006, less than 24 hours after he callously shot dead his wife and nine-month-old baby daughter. 

Inside the terminal building, I struggled with my bags, worried about what sharp items I may have neglected to remove from my hand luggage and checked for the 17th time in an hour that I had the right documents. 

As I became increasingly flustered, the CCTV images I saw at the trial showing Entwistle arriving at this very same airport came to my mind.  

He was cool, calm, collected and casual - just another apparently seasoned traveller passing through. He arrived with no ticket and no luggage - just a passport and a credit card to meet the $787 fare.  

To know that someone could appear so calm just hours after committing crimes labelled "incomprehensible", "unspeakable" and "cowardly" by those dealing with the case sends a chill down the spine.

I will spend my seven-hour trip across the Atlantic reading my book, listening to music, taking painkillers for my infected root canal and thinking back on the many and varied experiences of the last month in Woburn, Massachusetts. 

I wonder what Entwistle thought about to pass the time on his flight back home in 2006. 

Whatever went through his mind then, he has a lot more time to pass now as he faces up to the fact that he has lost his freedom forever.