MELISSA TREMBLAY: Man arrested in 1988 killing of 11-year-old girl from Salem, New Hampshire

You may remember this case:

Former Massachusetts corrections officer arrested for 1988 slaying of 11-year-old girl

A 74-year-old man was arrested this week for the 1988 murder of an 11-year-old girl in Massachusetts.

www.foxnews.com

Melissa Ann Tremblay disappeared in Lawrence, Massachusetts, at the age of 11 on a Sunday evening in 1988 and was found the next day after being stabbed to death and hit by a train.

More than three decades later, her alleged killer was arrested in Alabama and will be returned to Massachusetts to face justice. Marvin McClendon, Jr., a 74-year-old retired Massachusetts Department of Corrections officer, was taken into custody by the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and will be arraigned in an Alabama court later this week.

Tremblay went with her mother to LaSalle Social Club in Lawrence on September 11, 1988.

"While her mother and mother’s boyfriend remained inside the club, Melissa played in the adjacent neighborhoods and was last seen by a railroad employee and pizza delivery driver during the late afternoon hours," Blodgett said.

Tremblay's mother and her mother's boyfriend searched the area before reporting her missing to police that evening around 9:00 p.m.

Law enforcement located her body in a railway yard a couple of blocks from the social club the next day and an autopsy determined that she had been stabbed to death.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Ex-correction officer acquitted of killing 11-year-old who was stabbed and left on train tracks

A jury in Massachusetts acquitted Marvin "Skip" McClendon Jr. in the murder of an 11-year-old girl who was stabbed to death and left in a railroad yard.

lawandcrime.com

And then he knew details that only the perp would know. Again, a stupid jury imo.

 

[GrandmaBear]

If you're trying to make a comparison to the Delphi case. They don't have RA's DNA in the Delphi case.

I'm not making a comparison to any case. And I know you think DNA is the gold standard. However, you do question sciences and this one is apparently a newer one. I mean you questioned ballistics.

I'm not trying to offend or anything, I'm just surprised. The defense is also claiming they don't know where the DNA came from although I'm not sure what that's about.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I'll be forever angered over their decision I just don't understand.

Clearly one or more were not on board and caved and that really bothers me. I can't understand at all though how ANY saw it such a way in either trial.

I'm with you. I'm angry, irate, and shall stay that way, and you have even more reason and knew her.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I don't know they started deliberating and then I ended up in a car accident and you know the rest.... was in the hospital when the verdict came in

Yes, I'm so sorry about that. Having just been in hospital and incapacitated and helpless for some weeks, I empathize. I hope we both recover. Long roads ahead.

 

[Cousin Dupree]

I'm not making a comparison to any case. And I know you think DNA is the gold standard. However, you do question sciences and this one is apparently a newer one. I mean you questioned ballistics.

I'm not trying to offend or anything, I'm just surprised. The defense is also claiming they don't know where the DNA came from although I'm not sure what that's about.

They did not have a bullet that had been fired, if they did that would have carried more weight.

All they had was a shell hammer mark, which is far less significant.

 

[GrandmaBear]

They did not have a bullet that had been fired, if they did that would have carried more weight.

All they had was a shell hammer mark, which is far less significant.

That was just one example. This science is allegedly newer too. Anyhow, don't get me wrong, glad you think this arsehole is guilty.

 

[Tresir]

That was just one example. This science is allegedly newer too. Anyhow, don't get me wrong, glad you think this arsehole is guilty.

With RA, they also had scores of confessions and stuff only the killer knew. I think he is nutty as a fruitcase and dangerous. Especially having now listened to how he tried to stare down the Patties at the trial the whole time and how one of his videos they didn't allow in court was him making slashing actions.

Sorry this ahole got off. I guess he just looked like a harmless old guy to the jury.

 

[GrandmaBear]

With RA, they also had scores of confessions and stuff only the killer knew. I think he is nutty as a fruitcase and dangerous. Especially having now listened to how he tried to stare down the Patties at the trial the whole time and how one of his videos they didn't allow in court was him making slashing actions.

Sorry this ahole got off. I guess he just looked like a harmless old guy to the jury.

Both RA and this one knew things only the killer knew.

The juries deadlocked twice in two different trials here. At least in the first one the ones holding out did not cave in for acquittal.

 

[Takeitfromme]

New podcast from Kristen Seavey's Murder, She Told comes out today. I didn't mention to you all that me and another of Missy's friends were interviewed and will be in this podcast. I'm excited to hear how the editing came out and how they put it all together. I'll share the link when she sends it to me. XO
RIP Melissa..... we love and miss you

 

[Takeitfromme]

Both RA and this one knew things only the killer knew.

The juries deadlocked twice in two different trials here. At least in the first one the ones holding out did not cave in for acquittal.

And I'll be forever grateful to THAT first jury for not finding him not guilty because 11 of them FELT HE WAS

 

[GrandmaBear]

And I'll be forever grateful to THAT first jury for not finding him not guilty because 11 of them FELT HE WAS

Just one hold out huh? What a shame. So close. Well at least he stayed in jail longer. I hope his life was at least entirely disrupted and he lost any asset he may have had.

 

[Regina]

I haven't listened to any podcasts but I've read about the case and it sounds to me like the jury made the right decision since for one thing- and correct me if I'm mistaken but- it sounds to me like the DNA evidence isn't as discrimitory as it should be.
Besides that, it seems that another link to McClendon is a van, which to me, doesn't fit the circumstance of her body found in that rail yard.
Also, I don't think that McClendon fits the profile of the usual perp since it's my observation that stabbings such as were in this case are almost always committed by a much younger perp than what McClendon would have been at the time.

 

[Takeitfromme]

I haven't listened to any podcasts but I've read about the case and it sounds to me like the jury made the right decision since for one thing- and correct me if I'm mistaken but- it sounds to me like the DNA evidence isn't as discrimitory as it should be.
Besides that, it seems that another link to McClendon is a van, which to me, doesn't fit the circumstance of her body found in that rail yard.
Also, I don't think that McClendon fits the profile of the usual perp since it's my observation that stabbings such as were in this case are almost always committed by a much younger perp than what McClendon would have been at the time.

Missy was my friend I'm going to kindly agree to disagree Since I heard answer all the police interviews reviewed all of the evidence was in the trial Et cetera I saw this mans demeanor and how quickly he snaps first hand

 

[GrandmaBear]

I haven't listened to any podcasts but I've read about the case and it sounds to me like the jury made the right decision since for one thing- and correct me if I'm mistaken but- it sounds to me like the DNA evidence isn't as discrimitory as it should be.
Besides that, it seems that another link to McClendon is a van, which to me, doesn't fit the circumstance of her body found in that rail yard.
Also, I don't think that McClendon fits the profile of the usual perp since it's my observation that stabbings such as were in this case are almost always committed by a much younger perp than what McClendon would have been at the time.

I don't agree at all. This man imo is a perfect fit. The first jury was 11 for guilt. Neither jury as unanimous at first.

I also don't see some young perp doing this, doesn't fit what I picture at all.

He was an old angry lecherous drunk. And keep in mind he wasn't as old as now at the time either.

And there is DNA.

This was a huge miscarriage of justice and I hope his life was at least half destroyed if not entirely.

 

[Tresir]

I don't agree at all. This man imo is a perfect fit. The first jury was 11 for guilt. Neither jury as unanimous at first.

I also don't see some young perp doing this, doesn't fit what I picture at all.

He was an old angry lecherous drunk. And keep in mind he wasn't as old as now at the time either.

And there is DNA.

This was a huge miscarriage of justice and I hope his life was at least half destroyed if not entirely.

So he would have been 40 years old at the time. Similar age to RA, who used a blade to kill two girls. This guy has been free for 36 years. Sorry for Melissa's friends and family. This must be so hard.

New podcast from Kristen Seavey's Murder, She Told comes out today. I didn't mention to you all that me and another of Missy's friends were interviewed and will be in this podcast. I'm excited to hear how the editing came out and how they put it all together. I'll share the link when she sends it to me. XO
RIP Melissa..... we love and miss you

Can't wait to hear this.

 

[Takeitfromme]

So he would have been 40 years old at the time. Similar age to RA, who used a blade to kill two girls. This guy has been free for 36 years. Sorry for Melissa's friends and family. This must be so hard.

Can't wait to hear this.

Growing up without her in my life was very hard. It killed her mom big time for her mistakes. All her friends, her cousins aunts uncles everyone whose lives she touched suffered her loss and still does. We were robbed of her and robbed of true justice.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So he would have been 40 years old at the time. Similar age to RA, who used a blade to kill two girls. This guy has been free for 36 years. Sorry for Melissa's friends and family. This must be so hard.

Can't wait to hear this.

Good point. Seems a very typical age to me.

I look forward to listening to this too.

 

[Takeitfromme]

The new podcast is going to be delayed by 2 weeks.... (we gave them alot to work with) so I will repost the link to the original which Kristen is re-releasing today to push for what's to come.....

Melissa Tremblay: 1988 Cold Case Solved? — Murder, She Told: Maine & New England True Crime

On the afternoon of September, 12, 1988, a railyard worker for B&M Railroad in Lawrence, MA made a horrifying discovery on the tracks: the body of 11-year-old Melissa Ann Tremblay. Investigators quickly realized this was no train accident, and that something more sinister happened to the young

www.murdershetold.com

 

[Tresir]

I haven't listened to any podcasts but I've read about the case and it sounds to me like the jury made the right decision since for one thing- and correct me if I'm mistaken but- it sounds to me like the DNA evidence isn't as discrimitory as it should be.
Besides that, it seems that another link to McClendon is a van, which to me, doesn't fit the circumstance of her body found in that rail yard.
Also, I don't think that McClendon fits the profile of the usual perp since it's my observation that stabbings such as were in this case are almost always committed by a much younger perp than what McClendon would have been at the time.

You can just read the podcast too. That's what i did. These sections seemed significant to me plus the fact he was left handed - only 10% of the population are left handed. His van was parked in a car park only a block from where her body was found. He likely assaulted and killed her in that van. Of course by the time the DNA was tested and traced to him, the van was long gone so, i guess, they clearly could not test anything from that.

Police continued asking for help from the public. They were stuck. The clue that they focused in on was the description of the vehicle Melissa was last seen at—a tan van with significant body rust. It was sitting in a surface parking lot at a strip mall at the corner of Parker and Andover Streets, just a block from where her body was ultimately discovered.

He was 41 years old and worked as a handyman and a carpenter for a Seventh Day Adventist church in Lawrence. That church was only a quarter-mile from where Melissa’s body was discovered

Lastly, the van that witnesses saw Melissa near on the day of her death, the one that was tan in color and had significant rust, was similar to one that Marvin drove at the time.

 

[Tresir]

Good point. Seems a very typical age to me.

I look forward to listening to this too.

I have double checked and this guy was 41 at the time. Delphi murderer was 44/5. Both had been in the military.