Overview
- Carey, 66, received a mandatory life-without-parole term Thursday in Essex County Superior Court for killing 20-year-old Claire Gravel in 1986.
- Jurors convicted him on March 3 of first-degree murder with a finding of extreme atrocity and cruelty.
- Investigators said a DNA sample Carey gave after a 2008 attempted murder conviction matched DNA on the tank top used to strangle Gravel, using a national database of profiles known as CODIS.
- Gravel’s father and siblings delivered emotional statements in court, describing decades of grief and saying the sentence brings long-sought answers.
- Carey’s attorney filed a notice of appeal, and the case now moves into the standard post-conviction review that follows first-degree murder verdicts in Massachusetts.