WORCESTER–A 31-year-old Leicester man with a history of gun charges has been charged with armed assault with intent to kill in connection with the death of a woman in a Pleasant Street massage parlor Thanksgiving morning.
Marcel D. Santos-Padgett of 7 Marshall St., Leicester, was ordered held without bail during his arraignment Monday in Central District Court in Worcester.
Police believe Santos-Padgett went to Angie’s Bodywork Spa sometime around 2 a.m., Nov. 23, and stayed inside with the alleged victim for a short time before he pointed a “firearm at the head of a known victim and pulled the trigger,” court documents show.
Investigators used surveillance video to identify Santos-Padgett, comparing the photos to a picture from the Registry of Motor Vehicles and matching images of his license plate to information in the Criminal Justice Information Services database, a statement of facts in the case revealed.
In court before Judge Steven Power on Monday, Santos-Padgett was ordered held without right to bail until a hearing Dec. 13 to determine whether any conditions can be set to insure public safety if he is released.
Santos-Padgett has a criminal record dating back a decade with a drug case and several violent crimes listed in court documents.
Records show he was sentenced in April of 2022 to two years, with six months to serve, after being found guilty of two gun charges related to a home invasion on Stoneland Street in Worcester in 2021. The balance of that sentence was suspended for three years during which he would remain on probation, court documents show.
Other records indicate Santos-Padgett was wanted in Maine in 2021 for a home invasion and has faced charges in Haverhill where he was arrested on Friday in the massage parlor death.
The door to Angie’s Bodywork Spa was ajar Monday afternoon. The inside was dimly lit by a small lamp. Ceiling tiles lay on the floor just inside the front door. A woman called out from a room at the back of the long, squat building but did not come to the front counter.
Posters depicting hot stone massages, foot massages and others indicating the spa is open seven days from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. cover the windows making it difficult to see inside.
Outside, on brown paper, a handwritten sign adorned with a smiley face and taped to the door indicated no one working at the massage parlor had information about the death.
“We know almost nothing about the case. Please contact police officers for information and do not bother us. Thank you,” the sign read.
Thanksgiving morning, police were called to the massage parlor at 383 Pleasant St. shortly after 11:30 when a 911 caller reported a woman there needed medical attention, police said.
The woman was declared dead a short time later and police began their investigation into what they termed a “suspicious” death.
The name of the victim has not been released.
Kim Ring fell into journalism in the 1980s as a correspondent at the Telegram & Gazette and eventually left her initial career to pursue reporting full time. In her years of writing she has penned articles for several Massachusetts-based publications, taking a brief hiatus to work as chief of staff for a state representative. She can be reached at Kimringwrites@gmail.com
