Claire Gravel Remembered as John Carey Sentenced for Her 1986 Murder
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAWRENCE, Mass. – April 9, 2026 – Today in Essex County Superior Court in Lawrence, John Carey, 66, of Braintree was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of Claire Gravel on June 29, 1986, the Office of Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker confirms. A jury convicted Carey on March 3, 2026 after a trial in which Deputy First Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella explained how the break in the case came via DNA testing that yielded samples of Carey’s DNA on the black tank top shirt used to strangle Gravel to death nearly four decades ago.
“The family of Claire Gravel has waited 40 long years for justice,” said Tucker, who highlighted the work of Faitella and former Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Elaine Gill, now deputy chief of police at Merrimack College. “The prosecutors here today, together with our partners in law enforcement, never gave up on Claire’s case.”
Tucker also lauded the work of Homicide Unit Chief Jessica Strasnick, Deputy Chief of Appeals David O’Sullivan, Chief of Victim/Witness Services Maureen Leal, Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Det. Lt. Robert DeMeo, Lt. (Ret.) Steven Buccheri, Lt. (Ret.) Jim Dowling, the late Det. Lt. Norman Zuk, and the Beverly Police Department.
Faitella said Gravel “loved family, dreamed of having her own, and would have been a great mother.”
At the time of her death, Gravel was a 20-year-old Salem State student from North Andover who worked at National Braille Press. Her brothers and sisters shared statements in remembrance of her at the sentencing hearing, which was also attended by her father, her high school English teacher, and many of her friends. Donna Gravel, Claire’s sister, remembered how much Claire loved sports and noted that two children in the family now have “Claire” as their middle name. She said that she knows Claire was reunited with their mother in 2015, when their mother passed away.
Bob Gravel, Claire’s older brother, remembered his sister as a young woman “full of hopes and dreams” who wanted to study law, have children, and “go everywhere and do everything.”
James Gravel, Claire’s younger brother, thanked all involved for their work on the long-unresolved case, and Mark Gravel, the youngest of the siblings, described Claire as “a ray of sunshine” and added, “The key to happiness for the Gravel family is justice.”
Denise Foley, the oldest of the siblings, stated that she had been waiting nearly 40 hard years for this day before sharing a quotation in remembrance of her sister, saying, “Our dead are never dead to us.”
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MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Keefe-Feldman
E: Michael.Keefe-Feldman@mass.gov
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