Jury deadlocked in trial of man accused of stabbing NH girl to death in 1988

Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read

Dec. 28—The trial of Marvin C. McClendon Jr., a 76-year-old Alabama man accused of the 1988 killing of an 11-year-old Salem girl in Massachusetts, ended Wednesday with a judge declaring a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury.

McClendon had pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with the death of Melissa Ann "Missy" Tremblay. He was arrested in 2022 — more than 30 years after Tremblay was killed — after DNA evidence linked him to the killing, prosecutors claimed.

Henry Fasoldt, McClendon's attorney, said his client thanked the jury for their "deliberate and thoughtful" approach to the case.

"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.

Melissa, who was a sixth grader at Lancaster School in Salem, was found stabbed to death in the old Boston & Maine Railroad yard near Andover Street and South Broadway in Lawrence, Mass., on Sept. 12, 1988.

After her death, a train ran over her body, severing her leg, said former Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett.

"Evidence recovered from the victim's body was instrumental to solving the case," Blodgett said during a 2022 news conference.

McClendon worked as an officer for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections for three separate periods from 1970 to 2002, according to a news release.

A police investigation found that Melissa had gone with her mother and her mother's boyfriend to the LaSalle Social Club at 397 Andover St. in Lawrence and played in the nearby neighborhoods. She was last seen by a railroad worker and pizza delivery driver in the late afternoon, Blodgett said.

McClendon had been considered "a person of interest" for some time, Blodgett said. It is unknown whether he knew the family.

"We believe we have the right person," Blodgett said last year.

McClendon worked as a carpenter at the time of Melissa's murder. He was involved with the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Salem Street.