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John Carey to Be Sentenced Today in 1986 Killing of Salem State Student

Massachusetts law mandates life without parole for a first-degree murder conviction.

Overview

  • An Essex County jury last month found Carey, 66, guilty of first-degree murder with extreme cruelty and atrocity in the death of 20-year-old Claire Gravel.
  • Prosecutors said testing found Carey’s DNA on Gravel’s tank top after a 2012 lead pushed investigators to reexamine the clothing.
  • Gravel was last seen after a night at a Salem pub in June 1986, and workers found her body the next day off Route 128 in Beverly; the medical examiner ruled strangulation.
  • Carey was indicted in 2022 while serving a 20-year sentence at MCI Concord for a 2008 attempted strangulation of another woman.
  • At sentencing, Gravel’s loved ones are expected to give victim impact statements, offering a chance to speak after decades without answers.