The legal proceedings in the case of a 76-year-old man from Alabama, accused of murdering an 11-year-old Massachusetts girl in 1988, reached an impasse on Wednesday. The judge declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Marvin C. McClendon Jr., the defendant, had entered a plea of not guilty in response to the murder charges regarding the death of Melissa Ann Tremblay.
Arrested only last year, decades after Tremblay’s disappearance, McClendon was connected to the crime through DNA evidence, as stated by the prosecution.
Henry Fasoldt, McClendon’s defense attorney, expressed gratitude for the jury’s careful consideration and is prepared for a retrial. Fasoldt affirmed his belief in McClendon’s innocence.
The Essex County District Attorney’s office, through a spokesperson, announced their intention to bring McClendon to trial once again, though a date for the new trial has not been determined.
Tremblay, a resident of Salem, New Hampshire, was discovered deceased in a Lawrence trainyard on September 12, 1988, a day after she was reported missing. Authorities reported that she had been stabbed and subsequently run over by a train.
The day she went missing, Tremblay was with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend at a social club in Lawrence, close to the trainyard. She had gone outside to play while the adults remained inside and was reported missing later that evening.
The towns of Lawrence and Salem are in close proximity to each other.
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At the time of Tremblay’s death, McClendon, who then worked for the Massachusetts prisons department and lived in Chelmsford near Lawrence, was engaged in carpentry work. He was also known to work and attend church in the Lawrence area.