Massachusetts Criminal Justice

A Massachusetts judge sentenced John Carey, 66, to life in prison on Thursday after a jury convicted him March 3 of first-degree murder for the 1986 strangling of Salem State University student Claire Gravel with a tank top. Gravel, 20, was last seen alive around 1:30–1:45 a.m. on June 29, 1986, after being dropped at her Salem apartment following a night out at Major Magleashes’ Pub with her softball teammates, and her body was found two days later in nearby woods. The case remained unsolved for decades until investigators linked Carey’s DNA to samples taken from the tank top used to kill her, evidence prosecutors called his "genetic blueprint on the murder weapon." At the time he was charged in the cold case, Carey was already serving time at Massachusetts Correctional Institution–Concord for a 2008 conviction involving an attempted strangling of another woman. Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said Gravel’s family had "waited 40 long years for justice," while the outcome underscores how modern forensic methods are being used to close long-dormant homicide investigations. The case is fueling renewed discussion in crime forums about the role of DNA in cold cases and the need to preserve physical evidence for future testing.