How police solved a Massachusetts student's 1986 murder
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police → solve → murder
Claire Gravel, a 20-year-old student, was found strangled near Salem.
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Gravel → find → Salem
On a sunny Saturday in July, Claire Gravel's five siblings and 90-year-old father gathered around her grave.
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siblings → gather → grave
It was the first time the family had been back to visit Claire's grave since a man was convicted and sentenced for her murder, which had remained a mystery for nearly 40 years.
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which → visit → years
The 20-year-old college sophomore was found strangled with her own tank top in the wooded brush along the side of a highway near Salem, Massachusetts, in 1986.
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sophomore → find → 1986
Deborah Roberts investigates for the "20/20" season premiere, "The Salem Strangler," airing Friday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
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Roberts → investigate → Disney+
You can also get more behind-the-scenes of each week's episode by listening to "20/20: The After Show" weekly series right on your 20/20 podcast feed on Mondays, hosted by "20/20" co-anchor Roberts.
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You → get → Roberts
For decades, investigators tracked down hundreds of leads and kept an eye on a handful of them.
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investigators → track → them
Claire's family, meanwhile, spent decades in the dark.
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family → spend → dark
"It's a sense of relief because the last time we were here, we had unanswered questions," her younger brother, Jim Gravel, told "20/20” co-anchor Deborah Roberts.
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brother → have → Roberts
The Gravels are a tight-knit Irish Catholic family.
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Gravels → knit → ?
Claire was "bubbly," yet "feisty," as her older brother, Bob Gravel Jr., remembers her.
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brother → remember → her
"She lit up a room," he said.
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he → light → room
Claire was studying political science at Salem State College and dreamed of becoming a lawyer and starting her own family.
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Claire → study → family
On June 30, 1986, she didn't show up for her work at the National Braille Press.
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she → show → Press
Two of her brothers and her roommate reported her missing.
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Two → report → her
Hours later, her brothers returned home to find a fleet of police cars parked along the driveway.
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brothers → return → driveway
"And at that point, my world shattered," her brother Mark Gravel said, as the family learned Claire was murdered.
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Claire → shatter → point
One of the troopers who responded to the crime scene was Elaine Gill.
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who → respond → scene
Gill and the other officers on the case began their investigation by retracing Claire's final steps.
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Gill → begin → steps
Claire was last seen at local bar Major MagLeashe's in the early hours of June 29.
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Claire → see → June
A bouncer named Roger Boulay said a man who looked out of place was speaking with her that night.
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who → name → her
Police also staked out Claire's funeral, looking for more clues.
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Police → stake → clues
Over the next decade, police looked into whether Claire's case was related to a series of similar murders of young women in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
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case → look → Bedford
Police were never able to connect them to Claire's case, and those nine murders remain unsolved.
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murders → connect → case
In 2004, as Detective Gill learned more about advancements in touch DNA, she submitted Claire's tank top for processing.
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she → learn → processing
Almost three years later, results showed a male DNA profile found on Claire's tank top.
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results → show → top
Detectives then submitted the profile into the national DNA database called CODIS, but were unable to find a match.
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Detectives → submit → match
In 2007, in the nearby town of Hamilton, Massachusetts, a woman named Rosemary Diskin was attacked in her home by an acquaintance named John Carey.
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woman → name → acquaintance
Diskin's 12-year-old son was home at the time and, upon hearing the commotion, went downstairs.
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son → hear → commotion
His mother instructed him to grab a knife and stab Carey.
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mother → instruct → Carey
"I thought I was going to die," Diskin told Roberts.
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Diskin → think → Roberts
"I really thought I was going to die."
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I → think → ?
Carey was tried and found guilty of home invasion and attempted murder in the attack on Diskin.
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Carey → try → Diskin
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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He → sentence → prison
After Carey's conviction, his DNA was entered into CODIS and resulted in a match to the DNA profile found on Claire Gravel's tank top.
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DNA → enter → top
He attended Salem State before Claire, back in the late 1970s.
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He → attend → 1970s
Friends and family said they never heard his name or knew of any connection between him and Claire.
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they → say → him
Carey was charged with Claire's murder in 2022.
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Carey → charge → 2022
He pleaded not guilty and went to trial in March of this year.
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He → plead → year
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
