Carl Drew was convicted of the 1980 ritualistic murder of Fall River teenager Karen Marsden.
Drew and Robin Murphy were both accused of dragging Marsden into the Westport woods, decapitating her and performing satanic rituals on her body.
The Supreme Judicial Court Thursday effectively put an end to convicted cult killer Carl Drew’s 25-year quest for freedom when its judges ruled his claims of incompetence on the part of his initial trial attorney did not merit a new trial.
BOSTON –A single justice of the state’s highest court will hear the appeal of a former pimp convicted in the ritualistic slaying of a Fall River prostitute. Carl Drew, 50, was convicted in 1980 of the slaying of Karen Marsden. Drew and Robin Marie Murphy were accused of decapitating Marsden and performing satanic rituals over her dead body. The murder was the third in string of cult-like slayings in Fall River at the time. In January, a Bristol County judge denied Drew’s bid for a new trial. He appealed, and Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert Cordy last week agreed to
BOSTON — After watching his motion for a new trial fall by the wayside this winter, convicted cult killer Carl Drew is making one last plea for freedom to the Supreme Judicial Court. The attorney for the notorious Spindle City convicted murderer filed a petition with a single justice of the SJC Monday, requesting a chance to appeal Superior Court Judge John Connor’s February ruling denying Drew a new trial. Drew, 50, was convicted of the 1980 ritualistic slaying of Fall River prostitute Karen Marsden. Her murder was the third in a string of eerily similar cult slayings in and
NEW BEDFORD — The local attorney accused by several witnesses of, in essence, rigging the judicial system to secure a conviction against one of the most notorious convicted murderers in this area’s long history said he has given up on asking why, and is just relieved the ordeal is now over. David Waxler a former top prosecutor with the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office and currently a personal injury lawyer, sat down for an interview Friday morning, a few days after a Superior Court judge ordered convicted murderer Carl Drew’s motion for new trial be denied. Drew was convicted of
FALL RIVER — The sister of Karen Marsden is breathing a little easier after learning convicted “cult murderer” Carl Drew will not be getting a new trial. Wendy Alves said Monday she was “happy, of course” to learn Superior Court Judge John Connor had denied Drew’s request for a retrial. “Today I got the phone call, and from there it was all happiness,” Alves said. “What a relief it is.” Alves had been waiting anxiously for Connor to release his decision after evidentiary hearings were held in October and November. At the heart of the hearings was the question of
TAUNTON — Superior Court Judge John P. Connor Jr. Monday denied convicted “cult murderer” Carl Drew’s motion for a new trial. Drew, 41, was convicted in 1981 of the first-degree murder of Karen Marsden, 20, of Fall River, an alleged prostitute. Drew, who was a pimp, and co-defendant Robin Ann Murphy, a prostitute and pimp, were charged in the ritualistic slaying of Marsden. Connor’s 20-page decision follows an evidentiary hearing he presided over in October and November in Taunton Superior Court. Drew’s lawyer, Michael Cutler of Brookline, sought a new trial based on alleged ineffective assistance of Drew’s trial counsel,
An attorney argues that Carl Drew deserves a retrial because witnesses who testified against Drew in 1981 have since recanted their testimonies and said the prosecutors in the case threatened them. Both the prosecution and the defense expect Superior Court Judge John Connor to make a decision soon on whether convicted murderer Carl Drew should have a new trial, 24 years after he was found guilty of murdering Karen Marsden, a 17-year-old Fall River prostitute. Marsden was killed Feb. 8, 1980. Her skull was found, separated from the rest of her remains, in April of the same year. Shortly afterward,
TAUNTON — Final legal briefs regarding convicted cult murderer Carl Drew’s evidentiary hearings are due on Superior Court Judge John Connor’s desk Monday morning. Connor recently approved an extension to the filing deadline. The briefs were initially due Friday, but Connor chose to allow attorneys on both sides this weekend to complete their findings of facts and final legal briefs on the case. “Apparently, the judge is really eager to get the case,” Drew’s attorney, Michael Cutler, said Friday. “I will have mine in on Monday night.” The hearings to determine whether Fall River’s most notorious convicted murderer will be
TAUNTON — After 11 days of testimony from more than 20 witnesses, the fate of convicted “cult murderer” Carl Drew now rests with Superior Court Judge John Connor. The evidentiary hearings to determine whether Drew will be granted a new trial came to a close Wednesday afternoon in Superior Court. Drew was convicted of the first-degree murder of 20-year-old Karen Marsden and is currently serving a life prison sentence. During the final day of testimony, retired Fall River Detective Alan Silvia took the witness stand to field a host of questions regarding his investigation into the gory string of slayings