SALEM, Mass. — Charged with first-degree murder, Marvin “Skip” McClendon Jr. chose not to take the stand in his own defense Monday.
Instead, his attorneys focused on challenging the reliability of DNA evidence and the strength of the state’s case.
Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations on Tuesday in the 1988 cold case murder of Melissa Ann Tremblay, 11, of Salem, New Hampshire.
Salem Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Karp told the jury they would likely start deliberations Tuesday afternoon, about a day earlier than originally planned.
McClendon, 76, is accused of murdering Tremblay in a case that had gone cold for more than three decades. He was charged with Tremblay’s murder on April 27, 2022.
The girl was stabbed, beaten and killed in Lawrence near the LaSalle Social Club on Sept. 11, 1988.
She was known to play in the adjacent neighborhoods while her mother and her mother’s boyfriend frequented the social club. She was last seen alive by a railroad employee and a pizza delivery driver, authorities said.
Tremblay’s mother has since died. However, the girl does have surviving relatives and childhood friends living in the area.
Prosecutor Jessica Strasnick said DNA evidence links McClendon to the girl’s murder. Witnesses called by the prosecution also said it appeared the girl’s throat was stabbed from behind by a left-handed assailant.
McClendon is left-handed, according to relatives.
But defense attorney Henry Fasoldt said the entire criminal case is “based on assumptions,” including leaps made with the DNA, and that McClendon had “absolutely no reason” to kill Tremblay.
After more than a week of testimony from detectives, crime lab workers, relatives and more, the prosecution rested its case Friday.
Fasoldt on Monday called three defense witnesses, all doctors with backgrounds in DNA or forensics.
Dr. Carl Ladd, a former forensic lab supervisor in Connecticut and forensic consultant, testified via Zoom. Fasolt asked him a series of questions regarding evidence contamination.
“Nobody has figured out a way to completely eliminate it … Every lab doing DNA testing has contamination,” Ladd testified.
Pathologist Jennifer Lipman testified she reviewed the autopsy photos, which depicted the gaping wound across Tremblay’s neck near her Adam’s apple. However, answering questions posed by Fasoldt, Lipman could not say Tremblay was attacked from behind and/or by someone left handed.
“I honestly couldn’t tell the handed-ness of the assailant,” she said.
Also, Lipman said she was “leaning towards a front facing assailant.”
The defense’s final witness, Dr. Frederick Beiber, who works at both Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said he’s worked in the genetics field for 50 years.
He testified everyone in the courtroom Monday has 800 to 2,000 living relatives “that we don’t know about.”
A particular name connected to a DNA profile may not always be accurate, he said, explaining names in the past have been changed due to occupation or upon entry into the United States at points such as Ellis Island.
Speaking of McClendon, Beiber said there are five different spellings of the McClendon name as well as an Irish version.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter/X @EagleTribJill.