Fpoonsie
04-22-2011, 10:39 AM
Secrecy pact collapsed, leading to charges in 1969 murder of Tewksbury teen
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/assets_c/2011/04/Cold%20Case%20Teen%20Slain-thumb-457x324-39026.jpg
David H. Brow/Lowell Sun/AP
By Peter Schworm, Martin Finucane, and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
Walter Shelley, who is now 60 years old and who still lives Tewksbury, allegedly convinced two fellow teens — identified as Edward Alan Brown, 59, of Londonderry, N.H., and Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, N.H. -- to kidnap John J. McCabe as he was walking home from a teen dance on Sept. 26, 1969.
Shelley is charged with murder; Brown is charged with manslaughter; and Ferreira will face a charge of murder in Juvenile Court, officials said. Ferreira is also charged as an adult with committing perjury in 2008 when he testified before the grand jury investigated the murder and claimed he had no knowledge about McCabe’s death.
According to a Lowell police report, Ferreira grabbed McCabe and pulled him into a maroon car being driven by Shelley. “John McCabe was crying and begging to be left out of the vehicle,’’ according to the report.
The three teens assaulted the terrified McCabe while Shelley drove them to Maple Street in Lowell, the report said. At the time, Maple Street was a vacant lot.
Once there, the three teens tied McCabe’s hands and feet with a rope and covered his eyes and mouth with adhesive tape. The goal was to “teach him a lesson,’’ according to the report.
With McCabe on the ground and visibly struggling, the three got back into Shelley’s car and drove off, returning about two hours later. When they returned about two hours later, the teens discovered that McCabe was dead, the report said.
“The three were fearful that they would be caught,’’ according to the report. “They talked that if they never disclosed what they’d done to John McCabe, they’d never be caught.’’
Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Prosecutor Thomas O’Reilly said in court: “They made an agreement they would never talk about it.’’
While Shelley and Ferreira are named in the report, Brown is not. Instead, the third person present at the crime is described as a cooperating witness whose name is being withheld "due to the sensitive nature of the investigation." The report relies heavily on the confidential witness's testimony. Authorities would not confirm that the witness was Brown.
link (http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-15/news/29422470_1_three-teens-teen-dance-men-face-charges)
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I suppose it's a good thing that he finally confessed, but he and his buddies have already lived their lives. Maybe with a guilty conscience, sure, but that's more than their victim got for apparently just "flirting with one of the 3's girlfriends at a dance."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/assets_c/2011/04/Cold%20Case%20Teen%20Slain-thumb-457x324-39026.jpg
David H. Brow/Lowell Sun/AP
By Peter Schworm, Martin Finucane, and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
Walter Shelley, who is now 60 years old and who still lives Tewksbury, allegedly convinced two fellow teens — identified as Edward Alan Brown, 59, of Londonderry, N.H., and Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, N.H. -- to kidnap John J. McCabe as he was walking home from a teen dance on Sept. 26, 1969.
Shelley is charged with murder; Brown is charged with manslaughter; and Ferreira will face a charge of murder in Juvenile Court, officials said. Ferreira is also charged as an adult with committing perjury in 2008 when he testified before the grand jury investigated the murder and claimed he had no knowledge about McCabe’s death.
According to a Lowell police report, Ferreira grabbed McCabe and pulled him into a maroon car being driven by Shelley. “John McCabe was crying and begging to be left out of the vehicle,’’ according to the report.
The three teens assaulted the terrified McCabe while Shelley drove them to Maple Street in Lowell, the report said. At the time, Maple Street was a vacant lot.
Once there, the three teens tied McCabe’s hands and feet with a rope and covered his eyes and mouth with adhesive tape. The goal was to “teach him a lesson,’’ according to the report.
With McCabe on the ground and visibly struggling, the three got back into Shelley’s car and drove off, returning about two hours later. When they returned about two hours later, the teens discovered that McCabe was dead, the report said.
“The three were fearful that they would be caught,’’ according to the report. “They talked that if they never disclosed what they’d done to John McCabe, they’d never be caught.’’
Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Prosecutor Thomas O’Reilly said in court: “They made an agreement they would never talk about it.’’
While Shelley and Ferreira are named in the report, Brown is not. Instead, the third person present at the crime is described as a cooperating witness whose name is being withheld "due to the sensitive nature of the investigation." The report relies heavily on the confidential witness's testimony. Authorities would not confirm that the witness was Brown.
link (http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-15/news/29422470_1_three-teens-teen-dance-men-face-charges)
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I suppose it's a good thing that he finally confessed, but he and his buddies have already lived their lives. Maybe with a guilty conscience, sure, but that's more than their victim got for apparently just "flirting with one of the 3's girlfriends at a dance."