WORCESTER — At nearly 3 a.m. on Dec. 12, 2017 – the day authorities allege he murdered an exotic dancer in his fiancée’s Northborough home – Steven M. Foley got into a cab and made a derogatory statement about women, a cab driver testified Monday in Worcester Superior Court.
“Women are no good – all they want is your money,” Richard Breault, who was driving for Yellow Cab in Worcester at the time, recalled Foley saying.
Breault was among multiple witnesses to testify Monday, the first day of Foley’s murder trial, regarding interactions authorities say he had with others in the hours surrounding the death of Cynthia Webb.
Webb, an exotic dancer at Mario’s Showplace in Webster, was found badly burned inside the trunk of her car at Hope Cemetery in Worcester on Dec. 12, 2017.
In opening statements earlier Monday, prosecutors alleged Foley violently killed Webb after inviting her to his home, saying her blood was found underneath the floorboards.
They said Foley told multiple people, including his fiancée, that he’d placed Webb in her car and set it on fire in the cemetery after two other men had killed her without his knowledge on the second floor of his house.
Prosecutors said the evidence shows Foley met up with Webb at the Lamplighter II strip club in Worcester after speaking with her inside Mario’s Dec. 11. He then left his SUV at Lamplighter and rode with her in her car back to his home, they said, before calling a cab in the middle of the night to get back to his SUV at Lamplighter II.
The cab driver, Breault, confirmed that a man name Steve called for a ride from Foley’s Northborough address, 76 Shady Lane, at nearly 3 a.m. Dec. 12.
Breault recalled the man coming outside smelling very clean, as if he had just showered, saying he joked with the man about it.
Breault said that while the man had asked to be taken to another bar when he initially called, he redirected him to the Lamplighter, which is nearby, as they approached.
Breault recalled the man getting inside his Honda CRV, remarking that he had started to engage him in small talk about that make of car, but that he just seemed like he wanted to be on his way.
The cab driver said the man left in the CRV back toward the direction of Northborough. He said when he’d picked the man up, he’d noticed a maroon car in the driveway of the home.
Authorities allege that hours later, Foley drove Webb’s maroon 2004 Buick to Hope Cemetery, lighting it on fire with her naked body in the trunk.
Also testifying Monday was Marlene Neitlich, a former co-worker of Webb’s at Mario’s.
Neitlich said she danced with Foley the night of Dec. 11 and found him to be “aggressive” with her, trying to kiss her neck and face.
“He said, ‘I’m trying to stay calm; I’m trying to stay relaxed,’” Neitlich recalled of Foley. “I just wanted (to get) my money and leave (him).”
Prosecutors alleged in opening statements Monday that Foley had an argument with his fiancée before she left on a business trip to Canada that week.
Neitlich testified she’d met Foley at the club about two to four weeks before Dec. 11, at which time he’d offered her cocaine and asked her to meet up outside the club.
Neitlich said she declined the cocaine and never met up with Foley. She recalled seeing him and Webb together in the club the night of Dec. 11 before she left.
Foley’s trial will resume Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Steven Foley trial: Cab driver describes picking up accused killer