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Marvin McClendon Jr. is accused of murdering Melissa Tremblay in Lawrence, Massachusetts over thirty years ago.
Marvin McClendon in 2022 Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe, file
The retrial of a 77-year-old man accused of murdering an 11-year-old New Hampshire boy in 1988 began this week, almost a year after his first trial ended in a mistrial with a deadlocked jury.
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Jury stuck in trial of Alabama man accused of murdering 11-year-old girl in 1988 in Massachusetts
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Family of murder victim Melissa Ann Tremblay speaks out after mistrial: ‘Justice must be served’
Marvin McClendon Jr. is charged with murder in connection with the death of Melissa Tremblay. The 11-year-old from Salem, New Hampshire, was found dead in a train station in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on September 12, 1988, the day after she was reported missing. She was stabbed and her body was run over by a train.
Opening statements for McClendon’s retrial began Monday, he said Boston Globe.
McClendon was arrested in Alabama in April 2022 after authorities say DNA taken from the body of an 11-year-old was linked to him.
Authorities said that before Tremblay went missing, she was reportedly partying near the LaSalle Social Club in Lawrence while her mother and her mother’s boyfriend were visiting the business. Then they looked for the girl but couldn’t find her. She was reported missing and found dead the next day.
Prosecutors say McClendon lived in Chelmsford at the time of the murder and was a carpenter. During this time, he allegedly worked and attended church in Lawrence. Between 1979 and 2002, the 77-year-old was employed by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections several times.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office’s Cold Case Unit took up the unsolved murder in 2014. In 2022, prosecutors said McClendon was considered a “person of interest” prior to his arrest.
Since McClendon’s arrest, Tremblay’s family has said they look forward to “justice finally being served” in her death.
Last December, McClendon’s preliminary trial lasted 17 days, according to prosecutors Globe. The jury deliberated for nearly 30 hours over six days before telling the judge it was deadlocked and a mistrial was declared.
McClendon’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. But after last year’s mistrial, Henry Fasoldt said his client maintains his innocence and looks forward to a retrial.
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