Groveland murder suspect charged in killing 82-year-old man held without bail
Leedell Graham is charged in the killing of Groveland's former longtime building inspector, Patsy Schena, officials said.
A Haverhill man who allegedly murdered Groveland’s 82-year-old former building inspector last week was held without bail Friday afternoon.At an arraignment in Haverhill District Court, prosecutors said Leedell Graham killed Patsy Schena inside Schena’s Governors Road home on June 21. Video surveillance footage shows Graham, 48, entering the residence minutes before Schena arrived home at 4:23 p.m., and then leaving the house shortly after around 4:30 p.m., WBZ-TV reports.Authorities believe Graham used a lamp as a weapon, according to the news station. An autopsy revealed Schena died as a result of blunt and sharp force trauma, Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett told reporters Friday.Graham and Schena knew each other through “private enterprise dealings,” Blodgett said, but he would not discuss a possible motive. He said Graham is known to police.“As always, it is the goal of the district attorney’s office and the various law enforcement agencies that we deal with to ensure the public’s safety, and, to that end, we worked diligently to make sure that this investigation was professional and thorough,” Blodgett said at a press conference before the arraignment. “We will continue to do that because this investigation is yet to be completed.”Documents in the case were impounded Friday.
Clearer picture of man who is accused of murdering 82y/o Patsy Schena. Prosecutors say, there were surveillance cameras around the house in #Groveland. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/2G5XC44AxA
— Malini Basu (@MaliniBasu_) June 28, 2019
Graham was arrested at his 52 Cedar St. home in Haverhill around 9:30 p.m. Thursday following an around-the-clock investigation from the Groveland and Haverhill police departments, the district attorney’s office, and Massachusetts State Police, officials said.
Schena, Groveland’s building inspector from 1979 until 2015, was found dead at his home just before midnight on June 21, according to authorities.
Investigators found a bag of items Graham allegedly took from the house that included a lamp, a piece of jewelry, Schena’s keys, and a knife handle, according to WBZ-TV. Officials found the knife’s blade in Schena’s home, the news station reports.
“We appreciate the hard work and diligence of the Essex County DA’s Office, the Essex State Police Detective Unit, the Groveland Police Department, and the Haverhill Police Department,” Schena’s family said in a statement. “We are especially grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. We request privacy from the media at this time as we lay our beloved father, and grandfather, to rest.”
The alleged attack was the first murder in Groveland since 1992.
Groveland police Chief Jeff Gillen told reporters the case has shaken the small town of about 6,800. He extended thoughts and prayers to Schena’s family and said the town will remain strong as it continues to grapple with his death.
“He was very popular and well known, and he was a gentleman,” Gillen said of Schena. “He was well liked by everyone who met him. I personally knew him, and it’s cut to the core of our community, this horrific crime. He was a wonderful man.”
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug. 1.
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