Jul 21, 2008 11:20 pm US/Eastern
Worcester Police Seek Evidence In Unsolved Murder
Tipster Says Body Buried 20 Years Ago
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
Police in Worcester are searching for evidence in what may be a decades-old murder.
Acting on a tip, state and local police began digging with a backhoe at the rear of 13 Kilby St. Monday morning. They stopped after 9 hours and came up with nothing. The search is expected to resume Tuesday.
Last week, investigators received information that the body of a murder victim had been buried there about 20 years ago. A State Police dog was brought in and appeared to detect evidence of a cadaver.
"We couldn't conclude either way with the dog. We couldn't say yes or no, so it's something that we have to just, go in there and treat it as a homicide scene," Police Sgt. Kerry Hazlehurst said.
"But we have to go there. We have to do what we have to do to see if we can find if this is true or not. So we've been out there all day digging, and we're going to continue to dig until we've pretty much exhausted the area."
Police are not saying anything about the victim. City Councilor Barbara Halley said police told her they are looking for the remains of a young man.
"It's always painful to think someone suffered and very bad things happened here," she said.
Halley represents the neighborhood, which is called Main South. She says a neighborhood improvement group bought the property and tore down the two homes that used to sit on the lot.
"We'll build a house here too, so we'll bring a good future to this site, so it'd be great if we could put this to rest."
Construction work has been suspended while police sift through all 10,000 square feet of property.
"This is slow, layer by layer. You don't want to disturb anything," said Hazelhurst.
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