Latest twist in Yakovleff murder investigation

Reports surfaced yesterday that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office has given a subpoena to a private investigator--identified as Robert Diaz--hired by Steven Odegard to testify before the grand jury in the case involving the murder of Daniel Yakovleff.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 17, police discovered the body of Yakovleff with a fatal stab wound to the chest. Sources say Yakovleff was last seen leaving the Eagle bar in the South End on Wednesday, Jan. 16 and was found by authorities around 6:10 a.m. the following day.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the third-floor tenant of the apartment, Odegard, told police he had picked up two men at the Eagle and brought them back to his apartment. When he woke up the following morning, Odegard called police after finding one of them had been stabbed.

Odegard has been publicly identified as a person of interest by Boston Police in the murder of Yakovleff. The Herald reports that Odegard’s attorney, John Swomley, hired a private investigator, Robert Diaz, to help investigate and build the case for Odegard’s defense.

The piece confirms that lawyer Swomley and Diaz toured gay bars and spoke to witnesses who saw Yakovleff in his final hours. Swomley was appointed to be Odegard’s public defender on Jan. 17.

In an article that ran in EDGE here, there were unsubstantiated rumors that Odegard's attorney and Diaz were investigating at the Eagle before reports of Yakovleff's murder--and Odegard's association to the victim--were made public.

In a June 12 motion filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Swomley contends that Diaz’s investigative work falls under “attorney-client privelege” and that Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Dennis Collins did not have permission from the judiciary to subpoena the private investigator.

UPDATE: Steven Odegard has been indicted in the murder of Daniel Yakovleff. Click here for the latest.