Fall River, MA: Fall River kin grieve as officials search for clues

By David Abel and John R. Ellement
Globe Staff / March 27, 2010
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FALL RIVER — She was a former emergency medical technician who doted on her autistic 3-year-old son, a bespectacled boy who loved to attend preschool and watch Disney movies.

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Authorities found Ginger and Andrew Dilworth dead Thursday inside their Fall River apartment, about eight days after they were last in contact with family and neighbors.

“She was a kind, loving person,’’ said Barbara Lucianno, Ginger Dilworth’s sister, as she welled up with tears during an interview at her apartment in Fall River. “She would do anything for anyone. She was generous, outgoing, and a devoted mother.’’

Investigators called their deaths suspicious yesterday, but they had yet to establish how they died.

The state medical examiner’s office was expected to perform autopsies yesterday, but the conclusions might not be available for several days, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol district attorney’s office.

He said several people “connected to the family’’ were being questioned, but no one had been charged as of last night.

After four years of marriage, Dilworth, 37, recently separated from Stevan M. Dilworth, 38, an Army captain who served 17 years, including a recent tour in Iraq, until suffering a knee injury a year ago, Lucianno said.

Earlier this month, Stevan Dilworth was arrested after an alleged altercation with his wife, according to court records. On March 11, the records show Ginger Dilworth called police to report that her husband hit her and took the keys to her car.

“Ginger stated that her husband wanted to go out drinking, and she did not want him to drive their auto,’’ according to a police report of the incident. “Ginger stated that during the argument her husband then struck her in the nose with the palm of his hand as he attempted to push her away from an area [where] the car keys were located. As she stumbled backward, he took the keys and left the apartment.’’

Police later arrested Stevan Dilworth on charges of assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Medi Salas, who lives next door to the Dilworths, said she often heard the couple arguing through the shared walls. She described Ginger Dilworth “as a good person,’’ but said she did not know her husband well.

Stevan Dilworth could not be reached for comment.

Lucianno said Ginger was Dilworth’s third wife. She was a Fall River native who worked as an emergency medical technician until she hurt her back about seven years ago, her sister said. After her son’s birth, she became a full-time mother.

She and her husband “fought every day,’’ Lucianno said.

Although there was domestic strife, Ginger Dilworth did not let that interfere with the caring of her son. Lucianno described the boy as a “ham.’’

“He had such a beautiful smile,’’ Lucianno said.