Crime
Four decades after the victim was murdered at age 20, her family and friends shared statements in remembrance of her.
Claire Gravel was murdered June 30, 1986 by John Carey. Handout/Essex County District Attorney’s Office
April 9, 2026 | 6:44 PM
2 minutes to read
A Braintree man received a life sentence for the murder of a Salem State University student nearly 40 years after her death, prosecutors said.
John Carey, 66, was sentenced Thursday for the first-degree murder of Claire Gravel in June 1986, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. He will not be eligible for parole.
“The family of Claire Gravel has waited 40 long years for justice,” Essex County DA Paul Tucker said. “The prosecutors here today, together with our partners in law enforcement, never gave up on Claire’s case.”
Carey was indicted for Gravel’s murder in 2022 and found guilty March 3 in Essex County Superior Court. Jurors noted in their verdict that he had shown “extreme atrocity and cruelty” by strangling her to death.
At the time of her murder, Gravel was a 20-year-old sophomore student from North Andover who worked at National Braille Press. Investigators found that she was out with friends the night of June 29 and a friend had dropped her off at her apartment in the early hours of June 30.
Later that day, Gravel’s body was found on the side of Route 128 in Beverly. The case to find her killer went cold for decades until a new lead developed in 2012.
Prosecutors explained at the time of Carey’s indictment that evidence recovered from Gravel’s clothing helped tremendously. During his trial, another “investigative break” was said to come from samples of his DNA found on the black tank top shirt used to strangle Gravel.
“What he left behind was his genetic blueprint on the murder weapon,” Deputy First Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella told jurors during closing arguments March 2.
Gravel’s siblings, father, friends, and high school English teacher attended Carey’s sentencing hearing, the DA’s office said. Her brothers and sisters shared statements in remembrance of her, describing her as “a ray of sunshine” who was “full of hopes and dreams.”
Donna Gravel, Claire’s sister, said that two children in the family now have “Claire” as their middle name, according to prosecutors. Denise Foley, Claire’s oldest sister, shared a quotation conveying the heartbreak that her murder caused: “Our dead are never dead to us.”
Carey was already in prison for an unrelated attempted murder conviction from 2008 when he was indicted. Prosecutors noted that he was previously a person of interest in Gravel’s murder investigation.
Carey’s attorney, Mark Booker, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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