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A 30-year-old suspect was arraigned from his hospital room in the murder of two Boston-area doctors Getty

Prosecutors in Boston charged a suspect with two counts of murder in the brutal slaying of two engaged doctors at their penthouse apartment. Authorities believe the ex-convict, identified as 30-year-old Bampumin Teixeira, may have known the couple.

Teixeira made his first court appearance from his room at Tufts Medical Center, where he was charged in the murders of 38-year-old Lina Bolanos and 49-year-old Richard Field. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf, the Associated Press reported.

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Bolanos and Field were found dead in their South Boston penthouse on Friday (5 May). The couple, both anesthesiologists in Boston-area practices, were reportedly found with their throats slit and their hands bound by police responding to a report of a man with a gun, NBC News reported.

Prosecutors described how officers found Teixeira, dressed in all black, in the couple's penthouse when they responded to the call. Boston Police said the suspect "immediately began firing" when he encountered the officers at around 8.38pm EST (1.38am GMT).

Officers shot back at the suspect and wounded him. Following a violent struggle, police detained the suspect and took him to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Massachusetts prosecutors requested the suspect be held without bail due to his past criminal history, which Teixeira's defence attorney did not oppose. According to the AP, Teixeira has a pair of larceny convictions on his record. A judge ordered he be held without bail.

Investigators have not revealed a motive for the murders but indicated the suspect most likely knew the victims, the AP reported. Teixeira will appear at his next hearing on 8 June, the judge said.

Sunil Eappen, chief medical officer and chief of anesthesia at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, spoke highly of Bolanos. "I watched her mature and blossom from a young medical school graduate to a fabulous experienced pediatric anesthesiologist," Eappen said.

"Everyone at Mass Eye and Ear really loved her," he added. "It is desperately hard for all of us to fathom that our friend who never failed to brighten our days is no longer with us."

North Shore Pain Management, where Field worked, released a statement on its website, calling him a "tremendous advocate for his patients." The statement continued: "His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us."