Skip McClendon found not guilty of killing Melissa Ann Tremblay – NBC Boston

A jury found an Alabama man not guilty Tuesday of killing an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl more than 35 years ago.

The case came down to whether the jury believed that the DNA found under Melissa Ann Tremblay’s fingernails came from Marvin “Skip” McClendon Jr. After telling a judge Monday that they were deadlocked, the jury returned Tuesday and found McClendon not guilty on the sixth day of trial.

“Mr. McClendon was very relieved by the verdict,” McClendon’s attorney, Henry Fasoldt, told The Associated Press, adding that he would be returning to Alabama after two and a half years in prison. “We appreciate the jury’s careful and thoughtful deliberations.”

Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said he was “disappointed with the verdict” but praised the efforts of prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the case.

“I appreciate the jury’s work and dedication during their lengthy deliberations in this case,” Tucker said. “My thoughts are with the family of Melissa Ann Tremblay, who suffered greatly as a result of the crime that took her life.”

Last year, a judge declared McClendon’s case invalid because of a jury deadlock. The Salem, New Hampshire, girl’s body was found at a rail yard in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on September 12, 1988, a day after she was reported missing.

The victim had accompanied her mother and her mother’s boyfriend to a social club in Lawrence near the rail yard and went outside to play while the adults stayed inside, authorities said last year. She was reported missing later that night.

The girl’s mother, Janet Tremblay, died in 2015 at age 70, according to her obituary. However, surviving relatives came to court to witness the latest trial.

After initially ruling out several suspects, including two drug addicts, authorities soon turned their attention to McClendon.

He was arrested at his home in Alabama in 2022, based in part on DNA evidence.

Essex County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick told the jury that McClendon’s comments during his arrest showed he knew details of the crime and that he was “fixated on the fact that she was beaten, ladies and gentlemen, because he knew she wasn’t beaten.” She was simply stabbed that day, that is, she was beaten.”

A left-handed man like McClendon stabbed Tremblay, Strasnick said. She told jurors that the carpenter and former Massachusetts corrections officer was familiar with Lawrence because he had frequented bars and strip clubs in the city. He also lived less than 20 miles away at the time of the murder.

Strasnick told the jury that the DNA evidence taken from under Tremblay’s fingernails excluded 99.8% of the male population.

But Fasoldt said there was no evidence that the DNA came from Tremblay’s fingernails or came from McClendon.
Fasoldt also said evidence suggests a right-handed man, not a left-handed man, may have stabbed Tremblay.

He also argued that McClendon had “no meaningful connection” to Lawrence – apart from living 16 miles away in Chelmsford. In 2002, he moved to Alabama to property owned by his family.