No Change in Charges in Case of Abused Wife Who Died

Matthew Church at his arraignment last year.

Pre-trial motions in the case of a Georgetown man charged last September with assault and battery on his wife, who later died, will continue next month in Haverhill District Court.

Matthew Church, 33, of Georgetown, was due back in court Wednesday for continuation of a pre-trial hearing which began Dec. 29. Church will return to court March 16 for “a motions hearing,” according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. Church has been held without bail since his Sept. 1 arrest by Georgetown police on a charge of assault and battery on a household member. The arrest stemmed from a call Church allegedly made to his probation officer, who in turn, notified police.

“There has been no change in Mr. Church’s charges,” Kimball-Monahan told WHAV. At Church’s Sept. 2 arraignment, Essex Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella told Haverhill District Court Judge Stephen S. Abany pending the findings of an autopsy, the assault charge could be upgraded. WHAV requested information from the autopsy, however it remains unreleased.

According to Faitella, Church reported the victim, later identified as Kate Elizabeth (Lampron) Church, 31, fell and hit her chin on a sink after she had been drinking. However, police found the victim was not under the influence but did suffer other bruises to her arms, legs and back. Police found the victim dead during a return call.

Prior to his arrest, Church had been on probation in connection with an alleged assault case last April out of Gloucester, which in May was continued without a finding for 15 months.