Former detective revisits cult murders for documentary

FALL RIVER — Former Detective Alan Silvia tries every day to block out the memories of the grisly cult murders conducted by Carl Drew and Robin Murphy.

But all those memories flooded back to the forefront recently when a film crew filled his home with cameras and lights to conduct a three-hour detailed interview of his involvement in the case.

“I don’t think about it on a regular basis, I try not too,” Silvia said. “It changed my life working on that case.”

Silvia is just one of the numerous interviews being conducted by crews associated with M2 Flims, an independent Virginia-based production company specializing in creating content for broadcast and cable outlets.

President and Executive Producer Mike Sinclair said the documentary is being produced for an Investigation Discovery series called “Wicked Attraction.” Sinclair said the serires focuses on the “psychological attraction of murdering couples and duos and the effort of police to solve these usually complicated crimes.”
[…]

Drew was convicted of the 1980 ritualistic murder of Fall River teenager Karen Marsden. Her murder was the third in a string of similar cult slayings in and around Fall River at that time. Drew and Murphy were both accused of dragging Marsden into the Westport woods, decapitating her and performing satanic rituals on her body.

Drew was sentenced to life in prison without parole following a trial in 1981. Murphy, who was convicted of second-degree murder in Marsden’s killing in exchange for her testimony against Drew, was paroled in 2004.

Sinclair said there is still hope that Drew will be interviewed for the documentary, but said the process is now in the hands of prison officials.
[…more…]