Death at closed, rusted staircase a mystery
By 
Boston University professor David K. Jones was found dead on Saturday beneath a closed-off, rusted-out staircase near the MBTA’s JFK/UMass Station in Dorchester, but how he got there remains a mystery.
The steep staircase had been closed for a long time and pictures suggest it would not be easy to access. Fencing and a jersey barrier blocked access from the top at Columbia Road and fencing blocked access from the bottom at Old Colony Avenue.
In a Facebook post, Jones’s wife, Sarah Sacuto, said her husband went for a run Saturday morning and “accidentally accessed a flight of stairs near the JFK UMass Boston metro stop that was rusted through. He fell from 20 feet up and most likely died instantly.”
The death is a tragedy, but how exactly it happened remains unclear. Jones and Sacuto live in Milton not far from the intersection of Blue Hills Parkway and Brook Road. It’s about 5.5 miles from their home to the stairs at the JFK/UMass Station if Jones ran a fairly direct route, longer if he took a more scenic path.
Google Earth picture from November 2020 of staircase. The MBTA station is across the tracks in the rear.
A State Police spokesman issued a statement saying detectives and the Suffolk County district attorney’s office were notified by MBTA police “of the unattended death” of Jones, who had been discovered under the set of stairs by a passerby who called police.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the stairs had been deemed unsafe and closed for approximately 20 months. There was a wire fence blocking the bottom entrance of the stairway (Old Colony Ave) and a chain link fence and jersey barrier blocking the top entrance (Columbia Rd),” according to the statement.
Still, why would a 40-year-old respected professor of public health, after running at least 5.5 miles, decide to climb a fence to navigate an obviously rusted-out and dangerous staircase?
In online comments on stories reporting on the death, there were those who blamed the Department of Conservation and Recreation for failing to maintain the steps. (The stairway is apparently DCR-controlled property and not owned by the MBTA.) Gov. Charlie Baker, during a press availability, called Jones’s death a terrible tragedy for his wife and three children and his students. “There’s an investigation going on at this point in time, and I want to let that investigation proceed before we comment more on it,” he said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins issued a statement saying “we continue to look at how Dr. Jones accessed a stairway that had been closed for some 20 months. Whether accidental or intentional, any death is a tragedy and the harm to loved ones is the same.”
One commenter on Universal Hub said he suspected Jones made a tragic mistake. “With all sympathy to the widow and family, the rational conclusion is that Jones was intentionally in a place where he knew he should not have been. He doesn’t deserve death and I am not trying to shame the poor guy for what seems like an avoidable, yet fatal, mistake. But unless some elaborate conspiracy is revealed where Jones was murdered and the crime scene was staged as an accident, it seems like Jones was a too-curious urban explorer or he wanted to use the closed stairs as a way to avoid the [nearby] rotary.”
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Second lawsuit challenging Vineyard Wind:. The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance signaled its plan to file a lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s “hasty” approval of Vineyard Wind without first taking the necessary steps to mitigate the impact on the fishing industry. An earlier lawsuit was filed by two Nantucket residents backed up by think tanks and other supporters up and down the coast who are challenging the federal government’s failure to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Read more.
Call out the Guard: Gov. Charlie Baker brings in the National Guard to help drive students to school in Chelsea, Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn. Boston, which has had difficulty finding enough bus drivers, said it wanted to think about the offer. Read more.
Turnout forecast lower: William Galvin, the state’s chief elections officer, predicted turnout of 100,000 today for the preliminary Boston mayoral election, which would be about 13,000 down from eight years ago when a similar race with no incumbent was held. The projected decline comes as the number of registered voters in Boston is up more than 60,000 since 2013. Read more.
OPINION
Key to voter turnout: Sophia Acker, a fellow at Policy for Progress, says the best way to improve voter turnout would be to dump off-cycle elections and hold votes for local, state, and national offices at the same time. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
With the value of large-scale commercial properties down due to COVID, the town of Hadley is considering a split tax rate that would put a greater tax burden on the commercial properties. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Younger dentists prefer moving to the city, creating a problem of access to dental care in rural areas. (Telegram & Gazette)
The veterinary hospital at Tufts University stops accepting new patients because it is too full. Experts say a rise in pet ownership during the pandemic has strained the resources of veterinary clinics. (Telegram & Gazette)
ELECTIONS
Voters head to the polls today in Boston’s preliminary mayoral election, with all eyes on what looks like a three-way fight for second place, which would secure a spot on the November final election ballot; undecided voters waiting until the last minute to decide their choice could determine the outcome. (Boston Globe)
Kim Janey scores an 11th-hour endorsement from 92-year-old Mel King, who in 1983 became the first Black candidate to make it to a Boston mayoral final election. (Boston Herald)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election today, with voters casting a “yes” or “no” ballot on whether he should be recalled and also choosing among the more than 40 names on the ballot of would-be successors if the “yes” side prevails. (New York Times)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Tourism is up in Massachusetts, but hotels are still struggling because there has been little business travel or group tour activity. (Boston Globe)
EDUCATION
After last year’s experience with remote learning, some school districts like Springfield are creating permanent virtual schools for students who do better with online education. (MassLive)
Amherst College President Biddy Martin says she is stepping down next summer. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Swampscott approves a new elementary school. (Daily Item)
ARTS/CULTURE
Jeff Rogers steps down as the executive director of the Berkshire Museum. No explanation was given. (Berkshire Eagle)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
The first trial is underway in the national college admissions scandal, in which high-profile, wealthy families were caught paying bribes and falsifying information to get their children into college. (Associated Press)
Jasiel Correia’s lawyers are urging leniency, arguing for a three year sentence, not the 11 years that federal prosecutors have recommended in filings for his upcoming sentencing on his conviction on multiple corruption charges. (Herald News)
MEDIA
WFXT Boston 25 lays off more than a dozen news staffers and cancels several weekly newscasts. (Boston Business Journal)
The Philadelphia Inquirer is not referring to Republican-led efforts to examine Pennsylvania’s vote in the 2020 presidential election as an “audit,” because it says that’s not what it is — a move Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan applauds.
George Wein, who grew up in Newton and went on to found the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival, died in New York City at age 95. (Boston Globe)