Extension Student Murdered

The husband of a 28-year- old Harvard Extension School student was arraigned in Cambridge District Court yesterday after allegedly strangling his wife last Wednesday.

Charged with one count of murder in the first degree, 25-year-old Damian Linton pled not guilty to murdering his wife of one year, Andrea Harvey.

He is currently being held without bail.

Harvey’s murder is the first in Cambridge since 75-year-old Cambridge resident Mary Toomey was found dead in her apartment in 2003. Toomey’s nephew was ultimately charged with her murder.

Both Toomey and Harvey’s murder occurred on the same street—Berkshire—in East Cambridge.

Harvey, a math teacher at East Boston High School, had completed eight out of the nine requirements for her Masters of Liberal Arts in Mathematics for Teaching from the Extension School.

According to Linda A. Cross, Harvard Extension School’s Director of Communications and Media, she had been a part-time student there since the spring of 2003,

The District Attorney’s (DA) office said it cannot release information about possible motives for the crime at this time.

But Cambridge Police Department spokesman Frank T. Pasquarello noted that Linton and Harvey’s marriage had no history of violence.

“From all indications we had, there was no domestic violence, no restraining orders issued in the past. Everything was just strictly unexplained,” he said.

According to the DA’s press release, police arrived at the Cambridge home of Harvey and Linton Thursday afternoon in response to a 911 call placed by Harvey’s parents.

Harvey was lying unresponsive on the floor and the Cambridge Fire Department pronounced her dead on the scene.

Upon completing their autopsy on Saturday, the Office of the State Medical Examiner declared it to be a homicide.

The police found Linton, the main suspect, in North Carolina on Saturday. According to the Boston Globe, he was arrested in a Raleigh Wal-Mart, and was charged in North Carolina as a fugitive-from-justice.

As stated in the DA’s press release, Linton waived rendition and was returned to Massachusetts on Tuesday. His hearing is set for March 30th.

In response to Harvey’s death, Cross said the Extension school will be offering counseling and grief services to her classmates and teachers.

Similar services will be offered at East Boston High School, according to the Boston Public Schools spokesman, Jonathan Palumbo.

Those who knew Harvey praised her teaching abilities and dedication to learning.

“She was terrific in class, very smart, and enthusiastic about teaching and for the coursework in my classes,” said Dr. John D. Boller, who taught Harvey in four of her Extension School classes.

Thomas W. Judson, a Preceptor in Mathematics who taught Harvey in a weekly seminar, described her as an amazing teacher, instructing with an “iron fist” but still earning the love and admiration of her students.

He remarked that she was “one of best we have had come through the program.”

A tentative memorial service has been scheduled for Monday at Memorial Church.

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts contributed to the reporting of this story.