Kontakt: Beth Stone Beth Stone 508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A jury has convicted a man on charges that he kidnapped and murdered 15-year-old Tracy Gilpin in 1986, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Today, after a 12-day trial in Brockton Superior Court, a jury deliberated 5 ½ hours before finding Michael Hand, now 69, on one count each of Murder in the First Degree. Judge Katie Cook Rayburn sentenced Hand to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Tracy Gilpin fra Kingston ble meldt savnet 2. oktober 1986 av sine familiemedlemmer. Gilpins lik ble funnet i Myles Standish State Park i Plymouth den 22. oktober 1986. Sjefslegens kontor fastslo at Gilpins dødsårsak var et massivt brudd på hodeskallen, og dødsmåten ble fastslått å være drap.
For more than 32 years, State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, as well as the Plymouth Police and Kingston Police Departments, continued the investigation into the murder of Gilpin. State Police assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office developed information that Hand was a potential witness in the Gilpin case. In March, 2018, State Police traveled to North Carolina to speak with Hand, and together with the assistance of Troutman, N.C. Police and Mooresville, N.C. Police, conducted several interviews with Hand over a number of days. During the interviews, Hand, formerly a Kingston resident, made statements to investigators that could be construed as admissions to the crime. Hand told police he held a gathering at his home the evening that Gilpin was last seen, and told them that he knew Gilpin from the Kingston neighborhood. Hand made statements to police that put him at the crime scene in Myles Standish State Park in Plymouth, and Hand told police that he picked up a 73-pound boulder and dropped it on Gilpin. Hand identified the rock to investigators in evidence photos.
Den 9. mars 2018 ble Hand, basert på intervjuene og informasjonen han hadde gitt, arrestert og siktet som rømling fra rettsvesenet på grunnlag av en arrestordre utstedt for drapet på Tracy Gilpin. Hand frasa seg utlevering og ble returnert til Massachusetts.
“The Gilpin family made it their mission to see that justice was done on behalf of Tracy,” DA Cruz said. “They never gave up hope in this pursuit, and today we got that justice. I commend investigators with the Massachusetts State Police and North Carolina Police on their work on this case. I am hopeful that Tracy can now rest in peace knowing that her killer will spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham prosecuted the case, with the assistance of Deputy Director of Victim Services Karen Fahy. The case was investigated by State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, with the support and assistance of Kingston Police, Plymouth Police, and Troutman and Mooresville, North Carolina Police Departments.