Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Arlington Woman's 2009 Murder

A Level III sex offender from Roxbury pleaded guilty Tuesday, May 28, to strangling Jewell Allsop, a 48-year-old Arlington woman, in 2009, according to a release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Fitzhugh Newton III, 54, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as his trial on that charge was set to begin, according to the release. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Newton strangled Allsop on Feb. 25, 2009, in the back of a delivery truck parked on Columbia Road in Dorchester, according to authorities. Allsop’s remains were found at about 5 a.m. the next morning.

Allsop’s son addressed the court prior to the sentencing.

“The woman who gave me life and made me who I am was taken from me,” he said. “It’s been a very, very long road. The healing isn’t complete. But at least this part is finished.”

Police initially suspected Newton using DNA evidence. Newton had submitted DNA to the FBI’s database, as he had felony convictions dating back to 1979, when he was convicted of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and intent to rape. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison at the time, according to the release.

In 1996, he was sentenced to four years in prison for assault and battery, violating a restraining order and stalking. In 2003, he was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to register as a sex offender.