Second Defendant To Be Arraigned For Taunton Double Homicide

A second defendant will be arraigned Wednesday in connection with a 2008 double homicide in Taunton.

Gregg Miliote, Director of Communications for the Bristol Co. District Attorney’s Office says that 28-year-old Matthew Lander will be arraigned in Fall River Superior Court on two counts of murder, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of being an accessory to murder after the fact and one count of intimidation of a witness.

The charges stem from an incident on February 24, 2008 when, around 2:15 p.m., Taunton Police responded to a report of shots fired at a studio apartment located at 729 Somerset Ave.

Upon arrival officers found 23-year-old Kevin Vargas and 21-year-old Shawn Vargas shot to death inside.

Kevin Vargas' 4-year-old and 2-year-old sons were both found inside the apartment but were unharmed.

Miliote says another defendant, 26-year-old Keith Cox, was ordered held without bail on Monday after he was arraigned on charges of two counts of murder and two counts of armed robbery.

Cox is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on November 17.

Miliote says that even though two defendants have now been indicted, the investigation into the homicide of the Vargas Brothers remains active and ongoing at this time.