BOSTON — A father of three was found dead in his Charlestown houseboat on Sunday night while a woman was arrested on unrelated warrants.
24-year-old Nora Nelson of Boston, was arraigned in Charlestown District Court on charges of two counts of malicious destruction of property, assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, assault and battery with a television remote, and threat to commit a crime, court documents showed.
Those charges were not related to the ongoing death investigation at Shipway Place at the Charlestown Marina, instead stemming from an incident at 343 Commonwealth Avenue in September 2023, according to a Boston Police Department criminal complaint issued on Jan. 25, 2025.
1/2 In Charlestown for a disturbing death investigation on a houseboat. Boston Police found a man dead on a boat, his dog dead in the water Sunday night. Family friend says victim was a Boston atty, father of 3. Victims name not released @boston25 #Truecrime pic.twitter.com/yPWjGUL630
— Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) February 3, 2025
Officers responded to the marina just before 11 p.m. and discovered a dead body on a houseboat. Sources say the victim’s dog was also found dead in the harbor, although it’s unclear how that came to be.
A distraught friend of the victim tells Boston 25 News the victim was a Boston lawyer and a divorced father of three. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death for the victim.
Residents at the Charlestown Marina call the incident tragic, and reaffirm the houseboat community is a tight-knit one.
2/2 Nora Nelson,24, arrested on scene of Charlestown death for open warrants in other case. A prev BF called police when she wouldn’t leave apt. Jan 2025, Hull PD called to Nantasket Beach Resort when she wouldn’t leave her room. No suspects named in Charlestown case. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/FJKuz9HT2E
— Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) February 3, 2025
There was no immediate word on what charges Nelson faces in connection with the death investigation, but she was briefly in court Monday for outstanding warrants.
According to authorities, Nelson was also involved in a disturbance in Hull on January 17. A police report states officers were called for a disturbance in a room at the Nantasket Beach Resort because Nelson allegedly refused to leave.
She is still not being called a suspect or person of interest in the death investigation, but she remains in custody on open warrants and will appear in Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday morning.
The Boston Police Department’s Homicide Unit is leading the death investigation.
Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact detectives at 617-343-4470.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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