PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A New Marlborough man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to murdering his mother three years ago.

Rodney M. Ball, 38, was given a life sentence in the murder of 55-year-old Donna Agar, to be served at the Massachusetts Correctional Facility at Cedar Junction.

Appearing before Judge John A. Agostini on Tuesday afternoon, Ball pleaded guilty to single counts of murder in the second degree and illegal possession of a firearm, for which he was given a concurrent 2 1/2- to three-year prison sentence.

Ball, a lumber yard worker, had been held without bail at the Berkshire County House of Correction since first being arraigned on Agar's murder in March 2008.

Agar was found in a pool of blood at her home on Clayton Mill River Road in Southfield on the afternoon of March 16, 2008, after state police were contacted to do a wellness check after Ball drove her minivan to confront his estranged wife. Ball arrived at the scene while police were there and they found a rifle in the vehicle.

An autopsy found Agar had died from multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest and loss of blood. Ball, then living on Clark Way, told investigators his mother had killed herself.

The investigation was conducted by members of the New Marlborough and Sheffield police departments, state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office, troopers assigned to the Lee barracks and the Crime Scene Services Section of the state police.   

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Pittsfield woman pleaded guilty to a single count of involuntary manslaughter on Friday morning in Berkshire Superior Court in the stabbing death of her husband, Arthur Martin, a year ago.

Sentencing for Charlene Grandson, Martin, 46, of West Street, was continued by Judge John A. Agostini until 2 p.m. on July 8.

Arthur Martin, 49, died Feb. 8 at Berkshire Medical Center from a stab wound inflicted the night before. Grandson Martin had told police her husband had the knife and they were joking around when he was struck by the knife as she pushed is arm away.

Police said an investigation found her story didn't match the facts.

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two more people were arraigned Monday morning in the murder of 26-year-old Jahda M. Martin, who was stabbed outside a Pittsfield nightspot in the early hours of March 6, 2010. Martin later died of his injuries at Berkshire Medical Center.

Allen McGraw, 26, was arrested Sunday and Crystal Gonzalez, 21, on Friday evening. They both appeared before Judge Frederic Rutberg in Central Berkshire District Court.

McGraw, of Kingston, N.Y., had not-guilty pleas entered in his behalf on single counts of murder and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Rutberg ordered him held at the Berkshire County House of Correction without the right to bail. He is scheduled to appear in district court for a pretrial hearing on April 8.

Gonzalez, of Springfield, had not-guilty pleas entered on her behalf on single counts of accessory after the fact to murder and accessory after the fact to assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. She was ordered held at the House of Correction on $25,000 bail. She is scheduled back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 14.

Police say McGraw, Terrance W. Brown, Trevor L. Pryce Jr. and John C. Spratling stabbed and assaulted Martin in the Burger King parking lot by Wendell Avenue Extension. Martin, of Hamlin Street, Pittsfield, was a star athlete at Lee High School, from which he graduated in 2002. He later attended Long Island (N.Y.) University.

Brown, 26, was arrested in Springfield on the night of March 10 and returned to Pittsfield on Thursday morning, when he was charged on single counts of murder and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. He had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf and was ordered, also by Rutberg, to be held at the House of Correction with out right to bail. Brown is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on April 8.

It is alleged that Gonzalez was operating the vehicle carrying Brown when he was arrested in Springfield on the Pittsfield warrant.

Pryce and Spratling were arraigned on March 8.

Updated 3:17 p.m., March 8: Two men were arrested and charged with the Saturday morning stabbing death of Jahda M. Martin.

Trevor L. Pryce Jr., 28, of Spring Street, North Adams, and John C. Spratling, 26, of Cherry Street, Pittsfield, were arraigned on single counts each of murder and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

The two appeared before Judge Paul Vrabel on Monday morning in Central Berkshire District Court. Both had not-guilty pleas entered on their behalf and were ordered held at the Berkshire County House of Correction without the right to bail.

They are scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on April 8.

Investigators have also applied for and received an arrest warrant for 26-year-old Terrance W. Brown in connection with Martin's death.

An autopsy to determine the cause of Martin's death has not yet been scheduled.

Once a star athlete at Lee High School, the 2002 graduate had also played basketball while attending Long Island University.

Pittsfield Man Slain in Stabbing

Original post, March 7, 9:42 a.m.: A Pittsfield man died Saturday evening after apparently being stabbed earlier Saturday in an altercation near the Burger King on First Street.
 
The Berkshire district attorney's office said that Jahda M. Martin, 26, of Hamlin Street, was rushed to Berkshire Medical Center by ambulance in the early morning hours after police received several 911 calls at about 1:40 a.m. reporting a stabbing in the fast-food restaurant's parking lot on Wendell Avenue Extension. Police and emergency medical technicians found Martin at the scene.

The Berkshire Eagle reported that the lot is commonly used for parking by patrons of nearby Club Groove and that police said Martin had left the bar when the altercation occurred. This is the city's first homicide of the year.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death will be conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Holyoke. The date and time of the autopsy have yet to be determined.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have information regarding this incident to call the Pittsfield Police Department at 413-448-9700.
 
The investigation is being conducted by members of the Pittsfield Police Department, state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office, state police from the Crime Scene Services Section and members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force.