Carl Drew

Case record: Carl Drew

Status / Outcome

Carl Drew was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1981.

People

• Carl Drew (defendant): a pimp and self-styled Satanist.
• Robin Murphy: a prostitute and co-defendant with Drew; she was convicted for her role and later agreed to testify against Drew.
• Donna Levesque (victim): of Fall River; her body was discovered on October 13, 1979.
• Karen Marsden (victim): 20, of Fall River.
• Barbara Raposa (victim): 19, of Fall River.
• Andre O. Maltais: 44, of Fall River; accused of murdering Raposa.
• Carl Davis: named as a co-defendant in connection with the Marsden case.
• Doreen Levesque: killed in a satanic ritual after Marsden reportedly went into hiding.
• Michael Newton: named in the material as “Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers.”
• Kathleen Durand: named as “Kathleen Durand - Herald News Feb. 1, 2005.”
• Judge John P. Connor Jr.: presided over an evidentiary hearing; denied Drew’s motion for a new trial.
• Michael Cutler: Drew’s lawyer of Brookline.
• David Waxler: former Assistant District Attorney named as having conducted Drew’s two-week trial in 1981.
• Ronald Pina: District Attorney named in connection with Drew’s efforts and a described offer before trial.
• Assistant District Attorney Michael Connelly: head of the appeals unit; made remarks about the denial of the motion.
• District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.: issued a press release with remarks about the denial.
• Assistant District Attorney Kevin Connelly: named among assistant district attorneys involved in the case.
• Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne: named among assistant district attorneys involved in the case.
• District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.: named again in connection with remarks about the decision.
• Assistant Dist. Atty. Raymond Veary: made remarks regarding eligibility for parole and the Maltais case.
• Bristol County Superior Court Judge August C. Taveira: imposed the mandatory sentence on Robin Marie Murphy.
• Robin Marie Murphy: named as “Robin Marie Murphy, 18” in connection with sentencing.
• Bristol County: referenced as the jurisdiction for proceedings involving Drew and the evidentiary hearing.
• Kenneth L. Sullivan: named as Murphy’s lawyer of Fall River.
• Paul Fitzgerald: Massachusetts State Police officer named in connection with Drew’s allegations.
• Daniel Lowney: Massachusetts State Police officer named in connection with Drew’s allegations.
• John Birknes: Drew’s trial counsel in 1981, named in connection with alleged ineffective assistance.
• Leah Johnson: named as a witness at the evidentiary hearing.
• Maureen “Sunny” Sparda: named as a witness at the evidentiary hearing.
• Carol Fletcher: named as a witness at the evidentiary hearing.
• David H. Waxler: named as Assistant Dist. Atty. David H. Waxler.
• Ronald Pina: named as assistant and District Attorney in multiple places in the material.
• Paul Carey: named as a byline and as a “retired police Sgt. Paul Carey” who was described as lead detective.
• Patrice: named as assisting Michael Cutler.
• John Denmead: named as a person who heard commotion in an account described by Drew.
• Henry Scammel: named in connection with “Mortal Remains.”
• Committee of Public Counsel Services: named in remarks regarding reputations.

Timeline

• October 1979 — Donna Levesque’s body was discovered on October 13, 1979, after beginning of the case described.
• February 8, 1980 — Karen Marsden was sacrificed at a cult gathering outside Westport.
• April 13, 1980 — Fragments of Karen Marsden’s skull and scraps of her clothing were found in the woods on April 13, 1980; a portion of her skull and items of her clothing were found in a wooded area of Family Beach in Westport on April 13, 1980.
• November 1979 — Andre O. Maltais was accused of murdering prostitute Barbara Ann Raposa, 19, in November 1979.
• March 1981 — Drew’s trial opened on March 2, 1981 and he was indicted the following day; he was convicted on March 13; his motion for a new trial was later addressed in later proceedings.
• January 15, 1981 — Bristol County Superior Court Judge August C. Taveira imposed the mandatory sentence on Robin Marie Murphy, 18.
• 1982 — Murphy’s conviction for assaulting another prostitute with a deadly weapon added ten years to an existing prison sentence.
• 1991 — Robin Murphy had already cracked under strain of concealing two murders and she fingered Carl Drew as the killer; witnesses and police officers involved in the Marsden investigation in 1991 were referenced in connection with credibility findings.
• 2004 — Drew filed motions for a new trial in 1981, 1983 and 1992; a later evidentiary hearing occurred in October and November, and in 2004 Drew went back to court for an evidentiary hearing.
• Feb. 1, 2005 — The material included “Kathleen Durand - Herald News Feb. 1, 2005.”
• Monday — Judge John P. Connor Jr. denied Drew’s motion for a new trial, described as happening “Monday.”

Background

Carl Drew was described as a Massachusetts pimp and self-styled Satanist who used the trappings of his religion to keep prostitutes in line. He was described as compelling their participation in cult rituals and threatening savage violence if they tried to reject his “protection.”

The offence

At Drew’s murder trial, witnesses described his role in ritual gatherings held between October 1979 and February 1980.

Donna Levesque was described as the first victim, with her mutilated body discovered on October 13, 1979.

Karen Marsden was described as the victim of a ritual murder, with her body being discovered later after being sacrificed at a cult gathering outside Westport on February 8, 1980. Her killing was described as involving torture, beating over the head with stones, snapping her neck, and further actions involving her throat being slashed and her head being removed, along with finger lopping and rape of the headless corpse, and carving an “X” on the chest and smearing blood on Robin Murphy’s forehead.

Barbara Raposa was described as a second victim in connection with a separate trial and prosecutions, with Drew named in the material as suspected in a second Fall River slaying but never tried for it.

Investigation

The material described witnesses and police involvement in identifying remains believed to be from Karen Marsden and matching them to skull X-rays taken in 1978 when the victim was treated for a sinus ailment.

Authorities identified the meager remains by comparing bone fragments with skull X-rays taken in 1978. The material described that fragments of Marsden’s skull and scraps of her clothing were found on April 13, 1980.

Arrest

Robin Murphy was described as having fingered Carl Drew as the killer after cracking under strain of concealing two murders. She pleaded guilty to her role in the Marsden sacrifice and accepted a life sentence, agreeing to testify for the state against Drew.

Trial

Robin Murphy testified at Drew’s evidentiary hearing, and the material described that her testimony against Drew at the trial was contested in later proceedings.

Drew was described as being indicted for Donna Levesque’s murder and convicted in relation to the Marsden slaying:

• Drew was convicted of the Marsden slaying on March 13.
• He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

At Drew’s evidentiary hearing, the jury deliberation in Drew’s trial was described as lasting just three hours before finding him guilty.

The material described that Drew’s trial opened on March 2, 1981, and he was indicted the following day.

The material also described that Drew was denied new trial by Judge John P. Connor Jr., and that the decision followed an evidentiary hearing in October and November.

At the evidentiary hearing:

• Drew’s lawyer, Michael Cutler, sought a new trial based on alleged ineffective assistance of Drew’s trial counsel, John Birknes, new eyewitness accounts of the murder, and alleged injustice resulting from cumulative errors.
• Connor found Murphy’s testimony to be not credible.

Verbatim quotations from the material attributed to Judge John P. Connor Jr.:

“She maintains that she has no recall of Feb. 8, 1980,” the day of Karen Marsden?s murder, Connor stated, “that she doesn't remember what she told the representatives of the District Attorney's office on April 29 through May 1 of 1980; and that she doesn't remember testifying at the trial that the defendant killed Marsden. "

“I?m deeply disappointed. I still believe completely in (Drew's) innocence,” Cutler said.

“First and foremost, we are extremely pleased that Karen Marsden's murderer will remain behind bars where he belongs. Judge Connor's denial of the motion is the latest in a long line of decisions reaffirming the justice of the jury?s verdict against Carl Drew,! Connelly said.

“Judge Connor wholly rejected the witnesses? accusations of misconduct by members of the District Attorney's Office and Massachusetts State Police,” District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. said in a press release.

“Judge Connor cited Waxler's reputation for honesty and integrity, which was attested to by five sitting or retired judges, a highly respected member of the Committee of Public Counsel Services, and other members of the local bar.”

“I applaud the hard work, under difficult conditions, of assistant district attorneys Kevin Connelly, Steven Gagne and their support staff,” Walsh said.

Verbatim quotations from the material attributed to District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.:

“No one familiar with the case can entertain the slightest doubt about the justice of Drew's conviction,” Walsh said.

Verbatim quotations from the material attributed to Assistant District Attorney Michael Connelly:

“This is a big day for us. We're very pleased,” said Assistant District Attorney Michael Connelly, head of the appeals unit.

Connor Jr.:

Murphy testified at the evidentiary hearing that her testimony against Drew at the trial was fabricated and molded by former prosecutors and investigators.

Connor found that Sparda, Fletcher and Johnson were also not credible witnesses, and consequently their testimony at the hearing does not warrant a new trial.

Connor found that each of the defendant's witnesses lacked credibility.

Unlike recanting witnesses Maureen “Sunny” Sparda, Carol Fletcher and Leah Johnson, Connor said, Murphy “appears at the hearing to be in excellent health, in total control and very aware of the circumstance in which she finds herself. She was careful in her testimony not to contradict the story she told the parole board which resulted in her release. I find that her only interest at this hearing is in telling the story that will keep her on the street, and she did not let the truth stand in her way.”

Sentencing

Robin Marie Murphy was described as receiving a mandatory sentence of life for her guilty plea to second-degree murder related to the Marsden killing, with eligibility for parole after 15 years.

Drew’s sentencing in the Marsden case was described as:

• sentenced to life imprisonment for the Marsden slaying (after conviction on March 13).

A later status detail described Drew’s sentence as life in prison without parole in 1981.

The material further described that in 1982, Murphy’s conviction for assaulting another prostitute with a deadly weapon added ten years to an existing prison sentence.

Appeals / Motions

Drew sought a new trial. Judge John P. Connor Jr. denied the motion for a new trial.

The material described that Drew filed motions for a new trial in 1981, 1983, and 1992.

The material also described that Drew could appeal the denial to a single justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court.

Other details

By Paul Carey account and statements

The material included an account by Paul Carey describing involvement in attending satanic rites undercover, and described events surrounding multiple victims and prosecutions. It included direct dialogue by Paul Carey:

“Let's go. We're going to meet Satan.”

It also included specific statements attributed to Drew:

• Drew described himself as “a fifty-year-old man” and wrote about being incarcerated for a crime “I did not commit.”
• Drew described offers by the District Attorney before his trial, including a second-degree plea offer associated with his co-defendant Robin Murphy.

Verbatim quotations from Carl Drew’s statements in the material:

“stick it because I am innocent!”

“I know this sounds crazy but it's true.”

“they'd be right along side me if they didn't say exactly as they told them to” .

“I still believe that Murphy was the real ringleader, not Drew; that Levesque was murdered because Murphy was also in love with her and became jealous when Levesque started seeing Drew.”

“the two girls' souls were offered up to Satan.”

“I chose to hang around with the misfits of society like myself.”

Drew’s narrative described that he was convinced Murphy ran the cult and prostitution ring, and that he was not satisfied that Drew was present at any murders.

The material described that Maltais died in prison thinking he was an “agent for the police” and that he was mentally ill.

The material also described that Murphy would soon be eligible for parole, and that she had been denied parole about five years earlier.

By Gloria Negri account and statements

The material included a Boston Globe account by Gloria Negri describing sentencing of Robin Marie Murphy, including the mandatory sentence and parole eligibility.

Verbatim quotations attributed to Waxler and others appeared in the material:

• Assistant Dist. Atty. David H. Waxler was identified as having said Murphy could change her plea after she agreed to testify against Drew and Carl Davis.

Remains identification details

The material described that:

• Marsden’s skull was found about six months later in Westport.
• Authorities found cat skulls, sheep bones, and jewelry belonging to Marsden.
• Large clumps of hair ripped out by the roots were found and believed to be from Marsden’s head.
• More of Marsden’s possessions were found about a half-mile away, including a ring with the symbol of the devil on it.
• Marsden’s body was never found beyond meager remains, which were identified through bone fragments compared with skull X-rays from 1978.

Witness handling and credibility disputes described in narrative

The material described accusations by Drew relating to alleged threats to witnesses and allegations that testimony was fabricated and molded. It also described Connor’s credibility findings and his stated assessment that Murphy’s testimony at the hearing appeared to be in pursuit of maintaining release.

Disposition / imprisonment

The material stated that Drew received “Life without parole” on one count in 1981.