The family of 11-year-old New Hampshire girl Melissa Ann Tremblay, whose body was found in a railyard in Massachusetts 35 years ago, has released a statement on the mistrial declared this week in the murder case against her suspected killer.
Melissa's family put their support behind the decision from the Essex County District Attorney's Office to retry the murder case against Marvin "Skip" McClendon Jr., a former corrections officer who had pleaded not guilty. In the statement, shared Friday by prosecutors, the girl's family reiterated that they feel confident "the right man was on trial" despite the jury deadlocking.
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"Someone asked why retrial is so important and honestly it is because justice needs to be served! He has had 35 years that he has gone unpunished, walking free for 33 of those years," the statement said.
Read the full statement below.
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McClendon was arrested last year, decades after Melissa disappeared. McClendon was linked to the killing through DNA evidence, according to the prosecutor.
McClendon’s lawyer Henry Fasoldt said his client appreciated the jury being “deliberate and thoughtful” and looks forward to trying the case again.
“Mr. McClendon maintains his innocence and I believe he’s innocent,” Fasoldt said.
A spokesperson for the Essex County District Attorney's Office said they plan to retry McClendon. No new trial date has been set.
Melissa, who was from Salem, New Hampshire, was found in a trainyard in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts, on Sept. 12, 1988, the day after she was reported missing. She had been stabbed and her body had been run over by a train, authorities said.
The victim had accompanied her mother and her mother’s boyfriend to a Lawrence social club not far from the railyard and went outside to play while the adults stayed inside, authorities said last year. She was reported missing later that night.
McClendon, a former employee of the Massachusetts prisons department, lived near Lawrence in Chelmsford and was doing carpentry work at the time of the killing, authorities said. He worked and attended church in Lawrence.
Read the family's full statement:
As Missy’s family we feel it is important to address the media now that the trial has ended. While we would have preferred a guilty verdict we thank God that it wasn’t not guilty and that this isn’t the end. The last month has been a very long one and we would like to thank all those that have been there to support us. It truly has taken a village to get us through.
The daily support we have received from the Essex County District Attorney’s office, the previous detectives like Detective Murphy and Trooper Kelleher and the current detective on Missy’s case Lt Sherber has truly been what has helped us through this trial. They were there every step of the way and sat with us and made sure we were okay. It was very hard hearing and seeing some of the information revealed at trial but they were always there with a hug, a kind word and often a box of tissues when needed. We consider them all family and know they will continue to do their best to get justice for Missy. Also during the trial we had the privilege of meeting Nicole Lydic and the Quinto family, Stephen, Lisa and Jessica. Jessica and her brother Stephen were childhood friends of Missy’s as was Nicole. The day of closing arguments having them along with all the police officers, Troopers and staff from the district attorney’s office all sitting in that courtroom was like they all had their arms around us comforting us.
Our friends and families support and prayers have also been a big help. Uprooting our lives to come back for the trial involved a lot of moving parts and without everyone’s love and support we might not have all been able to attend court.
Someone asked why retrial is so important and honestly it is because justice needs to be served! He has had 35 years that he has gone unpunished, walking free for 33 of those years. He has lived his life with his family, including his children and step children but yet my aunt spent the rest of her life without her child and our family has been missing a part of us for 35 years. Missy would be 46 years old and probably have a family of her own if he hadn’t taken her life. I don’t know what possesses someone to do what he did to Missy. Did she interrupt something he was doing and she became a threat to his life and his chance to go back to the Dept. of Corrections or did he just prey on an innocent young girl? I guess we will never know why and that will always haunt us. At least we know who is responsible for her death. We might have got a mistrial but in our hearts we know the right man was on trial and we look forward to seeing him finally punished.
We would also like to thank the jurors. We know at least some of them believed he was guilty and the fact they fought so hard, deliberating through Christmas means so much to us.
