0:00

Hey there, it's Kristen. We are looking

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with you.

0:34

I'm Kristen Sevi. This is

0:37

the murder she told.

0:41

On the evening of October first nineteen

0:43

eighty six, Tracy Gilpin headed

0:45

home from her babysitting job. It

0:48

was warm for early autumn, and the

0:50

fifteen year old felt a buzz of excitement

0:52

as the leaves crunched underfoot. She

0:55

had just been paid for several nights worth

0:57

of sitting and had plans to meet up with her

0:59

friends at a neighborhood house party. Tracy

1:02

had recently moved to Rocky Nook,

1:04

a secluded close knit coastal

1:06

neighborhood in Kingston, Massachusetts. With

1:09

her mother and siblings following her parents'

1:11

divorce. The divorce and

1:13

move seemed to have been a tough adjustment

1:16

for her. Her name was well known

1:18

to the Kingston Police. She had run

1:20

away from home on at least four occasions.

1:22

Her family had become used to Tracy pulling

1:25

what they referred to as, quote,

1:27

no call, no show, staying

1:29

away from home overnight without sharing

1:32

her plans. The high school freshman

1:34

was performing poorly in school and she

1:36

had been experimenting with drugs. Despite

1:39

these troubles, Tracy was a

1:41

good kid. Although she was new

1:43

in town, she made friends easily

1:45

and was considered responsible enough

1:47

to babysit her neighborhood children. The

1:50

teen had a motherly instinct and

1:52

spent a lot of her free time babysitting.

1:54

She spent the rest of her free time with her

1:56

friends, having sleepovers and trading

1:59

jewelry. Like a lot

2:01

of teenage girls, Tracy took pride

2:03

in her appearance and made sure that

2:05

her dark hair was perfectly done.

2:08

She also had a romantic streak.

2:10

Her favorite song was endless love

2:12

by Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross.

2:15

A heartfelt ballad with simple

2:17

lyrics and an enduring message. She

2:20

dreamed of starting her own large family

2:22

when she grew up. Tracy's

2:24

sister, Carrie, older by eleven

2:26

moms, described Tracey as

2:28

hilarious, and genuine. As

2:31

the middle child, she kept her siblings

2:33

doubled over with laughter. When she

2:35

acted out soap operas with her dolls,

2:37

or pretended to be a character she

2:39

called Karen. This

2:42

is Carrie. Reflecting on Tracy's personality

2:44

in an interview with mass live.

2:47

You can see in her eyes even in the pictures

2:49

that mischievous. It was

2:52

always something going on in her

2:53

brain. Always thinking

2:55

about something, always off to the

2:58

the next thing, what was fun,

3:01

the stubbornness. She was

3:03

a wise guy. He'd always come

3:05

some

3:05

sarcastic, wise remark.

3:07

But at the same time, it was she was

3:09

always very almost like motherly even though

3:11

she was younger than me. Motherly in caring.

3:13

She loved a baby said she loved kids.

3:16

She was, what can I do for you?

3:18

And she would bend over backwards for you,

3:20

for her friends, Tracy

3:22

had an impact. Tracy

3:24

smiled easily, a sarcastic smile

3:27

that raised one side of her mouth while

3:29

lowering the other. Tracy was

3:31

smiling when she stopped briefly at home

3:33

to get ready to go out. Her mother,

3:36

Kathleen, could tell that she was excited

3:38

about her payday and her plans for the

3:40

night. She checked her hair in the

3:42

mirror and then left on foot for the party,

3:44

which was at the home of an older neighbor who

3:46

only lived few blocks away. At

3:49

about ten thirty PM, Tracy

3:51

left the party with a few friends. They

3:53

were heading home, but she needed a pack

3:55

of cigarettes. So she split off on her

3:57

own, down the road that connected her neighborhood

4:00

with the rest of the town. The

4:02

tree lined street was dark and quiet,

4:05

No one drove into Rocky Nuck unless

4:07

they lived there or were visiting someone

4:09

who did. But this quiet

4:11

street was the only way to get to Cumberland

4:13

Farms gas station and convenience store

4:15

on Route three a, the nearest

4:17

place that Tracy, nicknamed

4:20

Ashtray, could buy cigarettes. Smokes

4:23

in hand, Tracy used the convenience store

4:25

pay phone to call the woman who was hosting the

4:27

party. She asked for ride back,

4:30

but the host said she couldn't leave because she was

4:32

still tending to the guests at her house. Another

4:34

woman at Cumberland Farms, also known

4:36

as combies, offered to give Tracy

4:39

a ride. Although Tracy was

4:41

known hitchhike, she turned down the offer,

4:43

opting to head back to Rocky Nook on

4:45

foot. When she left the parking

4:47

lot at eleven thirty PM, It

4:49

was the last time that she would ever

4:51

be seen alive. Tracy's

4:55

mother, Kathleen wasn't too

4:57

worried when her daughter didn't come home.

4:59

Even though it was a school night. Tracy

5:02

had a habit of staying over at her friend's

5:04

houses without checking in, but she

5:06

usually turned up before too long. The

5:09

next day, however, Tracy hadn't

5:11

shown, and a couple of her friends called

5:13

her house looking for her. By

5:15

nightfall, Tracy's family

5:17

was concerned. They searched around

5:19

the neighborhood, driving to several of her

5:21

friends' houses, growing more desperate,

5:24

No one had any idea where she was.

5:27

Kathleen called the Kingston police

5:29

to report Tracy missing, but they had

5:32

heard her name frequently enough that they didn't

5:34

think anything of it. They figured

5:36

that she'd just run away again and would likely

5:38

come back on her own. When

5:40

Tracy still hadn't been heard from

5:42

Bioc October sixth, five days

5:44

after she'd gone missing, Kingston

5:46

Police joined her family in the search.

5:50

As days became weeks, there was still

5:52

no sign of Tracy. Her family

5:54

posted flyers with her picture all

5:56

over town and along the shore as

5:58

far as Plymouth. Before her parents

6:01

had divorced, her family had lived in

6:03

the seaside village of Manamat, a

6:05

section of Plymouth about ten miles down

6:07

the coast. Some locals thought that

6:09

she might have gone there to live with her father,

6:11

Rich, who worked as a longshoreman. Rich,

6:14

however, had no idea where his daughter

6:16

might be. Various sightings

6:19

of Tracy trickled in over the weeks,

6:21

apparently hanging out at the beach

6:23

or loitering at the mall. On

6:26

October twenty second nineteen eighty six,

6:28

three weeks after Tracy went missing.

6:31

A local woman was picking flowers

6:33

in miles stand ish state forest

6:35

in Plymouth as she made her way into

6:37

the thicker patches of vegetation at the edge

6:39

of the forest. She discovered the

6:42

decomposed partially clothed

6:44

body of a young girl and a makeshift

6:46

grave. The girl was covered

6:48

in leaves. Her underwear was pulled

6:50

down. Her pants and shoes

6:52

missing. A large boulder

6:54

covered her head, which had been severely

6:56

disfigured. Although decomposition

6:59

and damage from the rock had rendered the girls'

7:01

face unrecognizable, Plymouth

7:04

police quickly matched the body to

7:06

Tracy's missing person report in nearby

7:08

Kingston. When asked to view the remains,

7:11

Tracy's mother recognized a piece

7:13

of her daughter's jewelry. Dental

7:15

records were needed to confirm the identification.

7:19

It was Tracy. An autopsy

7:21

would reveal that she had been dead for several

7:23

weeks and likely died the night

7:25

she vanished. Her dad,

7:28

which was rolled to homicide, had resulted

7:30

from a massive skull fracture. Caused

7:33

by a single blow from the seventy

7:35

three pound rock found on her head.

7:38

The police notified the family of the

7:40

terrible news, This is Tracy's

7:42

sister, Carrie, reflecting on that day.

7:45

There was a lot of us from the neighborhood that

7:47

worked there, and when they called my name of the lobby,

7:49

you could see everybody kinda pick their head up over

7:51

the cubicle and look. And

7:54

it was that it could

7:56

be. She's here. She's fine.

7:58

She's alive and there was that

8:00

little bit of doubt. What

8:02

if she's not? You you saw that look in people's

8:05

they didn't know what to say. So

8:09

Dawn took it out of the lobby, and

8:11

my family was there. And

8:13

came around the corner and I saw my mother. She

8:17

she was crying. My

8:20

heart sunk.

8:23

The placement of Tracy's remains at the edge

8:25

of the woods, right near the forest

8:27

entrance made it seem as though

8:29

someone wanted her to be found.

8:32

Because miles standoff State Forest

8:34

was eleven miles from the Cumberland Farms

8:36

where Tracy had been last seen. It was

8:38

assumed that she had been brought to the location by

8:40

car. The Gilpin family suspected

8:43

that she had known her killer. Her

8:45

sister insisted that Tracy would

8:47

not have gotten into a car with someone she didn't

8:49

know. And would have fought against anyone

8:51

attempting to abduct her. However,

8:54

in nineteen ninety one, the Boston Herald

8:56

would report that Tracy was known to hitchhike.

8:59

It's possible that she did accept a ride

9:02

from a stranger that night. She

9:04

also might have been picked up by someone

9:06

she knew as she walked home from Cumberland

9:08

Farms. Maybe the driver

9:10

had invited her to a party outside a

9:12

rocky nook or had suggested a

9:14

late night adventure in the woods. Or

9:17

maybe Tracy had accepted a ride home

9:19

only to realize something was

9:21

wrong as the car drove in the opposite

9:24

direction of her neighborhood. Another

9:26

terrible possibility was that Tracy

9:28

was killed elsewhere and her body was

9:30

dumped at the edge of the woods and crushed

9:33

by the rock. The

9:35

investigation into Tracy's murder

9:37

made little headway from the start.

9:40

Not much was certain about what

9:42

happened to her that night. Other than

9:44

the cause of her death. Her

9:46

body lay waiting at the edge of the woods

9:48

for weeks as erroneous reports

9:50

of her whereabouts slowly came in.

9:53

In the meantime, evidence of the scene

9:55

was degraded by the elements. There

9:57

wasn't a lot for police to pursue. Tracy's

10:00

family prayed for answers as

10:02

they paired to lay their fifteen

10:05

year old daughter to rest. The

10:07

Gilpin held visiting hours for Tracy

10:10

at Sheppard Funeral Home. Followed

10:12

by a mass at Saint Joseph's Church

10:14

in Kingston on October twenty

10:16

sixth nineteen eighty six just a

10:18

few days after she was found. Her

10:20

gravestone at Saint Joseph's cemetery

10:22

was carved with an angel and flowers on one

10:25

side and a unicorn on the other.

10:27

Atop the gravestone, an open

10:29

granite book read, sadly

10:31

missed, forever loved, always

10:34

remembered. Our memories until

10:36

we meet again. After

10:39

her funeral, her father, Rich,

10:41

moved back in with her mother and siblings in

10:43

their home in Rocky Nook, They leaned

10:45

on one another for support, navigating

10:47

the grief of a world without

10:49

Tracy. The Gilpin family

10:52

began the tradition of holding memorial

10:54

masses for her every year commemorating

10:57

her January twenty seventh birthday

10:59

as well as the date of her death. Sometimes,

11:01

the Gilpin felt like they were the only ones

11:04

who remembered Tracy. The lack of

11:06

news or visible progress in her

11:08

case would not them for decades. In

11:10

the absence of progress, they tried

11:12

their best to move forward. In

11:15

February of nineteen eighty eight, Richard

11:17

and Kathleen had another son. Shane,

11:20

twenty years younger than their eldest child

11:22

carry. Shane had a smile

11:24

just like Tracey's, and as he grew

11:26

up, He developed similar mannerisms

11:29

to the sister he would never meet.

11:32

A few weeks before the fourth anniversary

11:35

of Tracy's death, Another Kingston

11:37

girl went missing. When thirteen

11:39

year old Melissa Benoit left her home

11:42

on September fifteenth nineteen ninety,

11:44

Her family thought she was on her way to visit

11:46

her father's gravesite and nearby

11:48

evergreen cemetery. Melissa

11:50

was reported missing later that day. In

11:52

a massive ground surge ensued. Over

11:55

one hundred volunteers joined in

11:57

the effort. Eleven days

11:59

after she disappeared, Melissa's

12:01

body was found in the basement of

12:03

her neighbor, Henry Mineholz. Henry,

12:07

who worked in lumber yard and taught Sunday

12:09

school, live next door to Melissa on

12:11

property that abutted Evergreen's cemetery.

12:14

He was charged with her kidnapping and murder

12:16

within weeks of her initial disappearance. When

12:19

Henry was charged with Melissa's kidnapping

12:21

and murder, there was immediate speculation

12:24

that he was responsible for Tracy's death

12:26

as well. There were a lot of details

12:28

that pointed to him as a possible suspect.

12:31

Both Melissa and Tracy or Slim

12:34

brunettes in their early teens Both

12:36

girls were found partially undressed.

12:39

Tracy had often visited the grave of

12:41

a friend who was buried in evergreen cemetery.

12:44

Perhaps Gilpin view of Henry's

12:46

home. But most chilling,

12:48

Henry admitted to picking up teen

12:50

hitchhikers and molesting them in his

12:53

car. Could he have encountered

12:55

Tracy that night at Cumberland Farms?

12:57

The Plymouth Assistant DA said,

13:00

I don't have any firm evidence that he was

13:02

involved in Tracy's murder. But certainly,

13:04

there is enough information to take a closer

13:07

look. Despite the possibility of

13:09

a resolution, Kathleen suppressed

13:11

her hope that he was not involved with her

13:13

daughter's murder, saying, I

13:15

pray to god he didn't have anything to do with

13:17

it. And if he did, I don't wanna

13:19

know. The man is just so

13:22

bizarre. As

13:24

Tracy's case was reexamined, her

13:26

family once again marked her death

13:28

with a memorial mass at Saint Joseph's

13:30

Church. In previous years,

13:33

these masses had been crowded, but

13:35

on this occasion, only thirteen

13:37

mourners attended. Despite renewed

13:39

public interest in Tracy's case.

13:41

Kathleen wondered why Melissa's disappearance

13:44

had been treated so differently from her daughters.

13:47

Pointing out to reporters, the police had

13:49

waited a week before even looking

13:51

for Tracy, while a thousand volunteers

13:53

were mobilized to look for Melissa immediately.

13:57

Asked about the difference between their cases,

13:59

the Kingston, chief of police said, no

14:02

situation is entirely the same.

14:04

They were two different types of girls. And there

14:06

were two different types of situations. Everything

14:09

was done that could have been done. Kathleen

14:11

was bitter and found it hard to resist

14:14

comparison. Police were

14:16

looking into Tracy's case from a new

14:18

perspective. But Kathleen said,

14:20

it's sad to think that they have no clue

14:23

who killed Tracy. They just screwed

14:25

up royally in my case. She

14:28

conceded that perhaps the Kingston police

14:30

were more diligent when Melissa went missing.

14:32

Because they had learned hard lessons from

14:34

Tracy's death. The huge search

14:36

for Melissa may have reflected a change

14:38

in department practices. That was brought

14:41

about in response to Tracy's case.

14:43

The Kingston police didn't wanna make the

14:45

same mistake twice. On

14:48

Sunday, November eleventh nineteen ninety,

14:50

a local girl scout troop honored

14:53

Tracy and Melissa, planting

14:55

two Dogwood trees in their memory in

14:57

front of the Kingston Police Department. Melissa's

15:00

murder two months prior had rattled

15:02

the Kingston community. The innocent

15:04

young girl could have been anyone's daughter,

15:06

sister, or friend. Beside

15:09

Melissa's murder, Tracy's disappearance

15:11

in death took on a new dimension. Speculation

15:15

swirled as to whether Henry bore

15:17

responsibility for her violent end.

15:19

People wondered that if Tracy's murder

15:22

had been solved, baby Melissa's

15:24

could have been prevented. For

15:26

Tracy's friends and family, This

15:28

tree planting ceremony must have been

15:30

bittersweet. It felt unfair

15:33

that the community hadn't deemed Tracey's

15:35

loss worth memorializing until

15:37

another little girl was brutally murdered.

15:40

Her inclusion in this ceremony, though

15:42

well intentioned, may have felt

15:44

like an afterthought. Henry

15:47

Mineholz was convicted of the kidnapping

15:49

and murder of Melissa Benoit on November

15:51

twenty third nineteen ninety one just

15:53

over a year after she was killed. Although

15:56

police believed he was responsible for other

15:58

crimes, they lacked the evidence to support

16:00

their suspicions. By this point,

16:03

They told the Gilpin family that they did

16:05

not view Henry as a prime suspect

16:07

in Tracy's death. Within a

16:09

week of Henry's imprisonment, A rumor

16:11

began circulating that he had

16:14

offered information about Tracy's

16:16

murder in exchange for special treatment.

16:18

Supposedly that he wanted to serve his

16:21

sentence at Bridgewater State Mental

16:23

Hospital instead of Walpole State Prison.

16:25

Kathleen confronted authorities with this

16:27

rumor and was told that no such offer

16:30

had been made either by Henry

16:32

or his attorney. With these

16:34

rumors squashed and Henry ruled out

16:36

as the prime suspect, Tracy's case

16:39

was once again at a standstill. Kathleen

16:43

refused to leave the family home in Rocky

16:45

Nuck saying, this is

16:47

where Tracy lives. I still

16:49

think she might come through that door any moment

16:51

now. I guess that's what keeps me going.

16:54

Tracy siblings felt as though the family

16:56

remained in the eighties. And the idea of

16:58

visiting the home she vanished from for the

17:00

holidays became too painful. Carrie,

17:04

who was only eleven months older than Tracy,

17:06

found her life's path altered by

17:08

her sister's death. The seventeen

17:10

year old had been at work when her mother came

17:13

in to tell her Tracy's remains had been

17:15

found. Shortly afterward, Carrie

17:17

found one of the missing person's flyers

17:19

that her family had distributed hanging

17:21

in a local gas station. She recalled

17:24

asking the clerk to give the flyer back

17:26

to her. Saying he wouldn't need it

17:28

any longer.

17:29

always wonder why not

17:31

that it should happen at all, but I think

17:33

you always think why my

17:36

why my sister.

17:39

What would she be like? What would

17:42

what would I be like?

17:45

Carrie's grief found an outlet in

17:47

her career path. After graduating

17:49

high school, she earned her bachelor's degree

17:51

in criminal justice from Western New England

17:53

College. In nineteen ninety four,

17:56

at age twenty five, she joined the

17:58

Massachusetts state police as a state

18:00

trooper. She rose through the ranks.

18:03

Putting in twelve years in crime scene

18:05

services and earning a promotion to major.

18:07

She then became deputy commander of a

18:10

division that oversaw the training academy

18:12

in internal affairs. In November

18:14

of twenty seventeen, Carrie, by

18:17

that time, a twenty three year veteran

18:19

with a force was promoted to superintendent

18:21

of the Massachusetts State Police following

18:24

the abrupt resignation of her predecessor due

18:26

to a scandal. She was sworn in

18:28

by governor Charlie Baker who said

18:30

of her, I have the utmost confidence

18:33

that Colonel Gilpin will sell as

18:35

a leader of our tremendous police force.

18:38

She brings decades of experience and knowledge

18:40

to her post with a deep understanding of

18:42

the state police at every level. Carrie's

18:46

exemplary work in law enforcement was

18:48

inspired at least in part by her sister's

18:50

murder. Her desire to help victims

18:52

of violent crime fueled her dedication

18:55

and leadership within the force. She

18:57

also remained committed to finding

18:59

justice for Tracy. Regarding

19:01

her sister's murder, Carrie later

19:04

said, it's been thirty years,

19:06

but I know it solvable. In my

19:08

heart of hearts, I know that person

19:10

is still out there. In

19:13

twenty seventeen, the Gilpin family

19:16

offered a twenty five thousand dollar reward

19:18

for information leading to an arrest

19:20

and conviction, an increase from their

19:22

previous offer of ten thousand. They

19:25

hoped it would generate new leads and get

19:27

new press. Speaking on behalf

19:29

of her family, Carrie said,

19:31

we think that there are a lot of people who know

19:33

something. That for one reason or

19:35

another are afraid to come forward.

19:39

Tracy's father, Richard, sadly

19:41

wouldn't live to see a resolution. He

19:44

passed away in January of twenty eighteen

19:46

at the age of seventy one. He was

19:48

interred with Tracy at Saint Joseph's

19:50

cemetery in Kingston. But

19:53

just two months after his passing,

19:55

police received a tip that would

19:57

breathe new life into the investigation. When

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21:35

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21:37

Tracy disappeared, not the party

21:40

in rocky nook that she'd left to buy cigarettes,

21:42

but another one, five miles

21:44

away, hosted by a man

21:46

with cocoa bottle glasses named

21:48

Michael Arthur Hand. An

21:51

anonymous party goer called in the tip.

21:54

According to the tipster, Tracy had

21:56

turned up at Michael's party after

21:58

buying her cigarettes at Cumberland Farms.

22:01

Michael's name hadn't come up before in the investigation,

22:03

so detectives learned everything they could

22:05

about the man. Michael

22:08

had grown up in Kingston, graduating

22:10

from the local high school in nineteen seventy

22:12

five. His yearbook picture showed

22:14

a young man with the same coke bottle

22:16

glasses wearing a jacket in a colored

22:18

shirt. His father was a vice

22:21

principal in the local school district who

22:23

had a reputation of being tough. Michael

22:25

had lived with his parents in the family home

22:28

on Brook Dale Street in Kingston, and

22:30

he remained there after they passed away.

22:32

In two thousand seven, Michael sold

22:34

the family home and moved to troutman. A

22:37

small North Carolina town with a

22:39

population of thirty five hundred. He

22:41

didn't have a police record of any kind.

22:44

But there was a civil suit filed against

22:46

him by the Ford Motor Credit Company

22:48

in the amount of thirty nine hundred dollars.

22:51

Excited by the discovery of a previously

22:53

unknown witness, detectives traveled

22:56

to troutman to interview him on March

22:58

seventh twenty eighteen. Michael

23:00

lived in an unkempt house on Cut Street,

23:03

a dead end road. The

23:05

investigators recognized the sixty one

23:07

year old by his glasses, as he opened the

23:09

door to greet them. Michael was surprised

23:12

to hear Tracy's name, who was willing

23:14

to sit down and talk to them about what he remembered

23:16

of her. Initially, he told

23:18

him that he'd been familiar with her from around

23:20

the neighborhood and that he'd lived briefly

23:22

with her aunt, but that he hadn't known

23:25

her very well. He admitted

23:27

that she'd been present at a small gathering

23:29

at his house several weeks before she

23:31

went missing, but was adamant that

23:33

he did not see her the night of her death.

23:36

When investigators asked Michael to provide

23:38

a DNA sample, his story

23:40

changed dramatically. As

23:43

the interview progressed, he recited

23:45

a meandering chain of events that unfolded

23:48

the night that Tracy died. In

23:50

nineteen eighty six, twenty nine year

23:52

old Michael still lived with his parents

23:54

in Kingston. His family home on

23:56

Brookdale Street was five miles

23:58

from Tracy's home in Rocky Nook in

24:00

just a short drive from the Cumberland Farms

24:03

on Route three a, where she was last seen.

24:06

He told investigators he'd seen

24:08

Tracy on the afternoon of her disappearance

24:10

riding in the passenger seat of an orange

24:13

Ford escort driven by Henry

24:15

Mineholz. Later that night,

24:17

he watched the same car take off

24:20

from the Cumberland Farms parking lot heading

24:22

south down Route three a towards Plymouth.

24:25

Just then, an unnamed friend of

24:27

Michaels arrived at the convenience store on

24:29

a motorcycle. Michael climbed onto

24:31

the back and shouted, follow

24:33

that car. The two took off in pursuit

24:36

of the Ford. The men stopped

24:38

when they found the car pulled over on the

24:40

side of the road at the Edge of Mile's Standish

24:42

State Forest. They saw Henry

24:44

emerge from the woods carrying a shovel

24:47

and a tarp. Michael's friend with the

24:49

motorcycle got scared and took

24:51

off, leaving Michael alone on the side

24:53

of the road. Henry noticed

24:55

Michael and approached him shovel in

24:57

hand. Michael, who said

24:59

he felt intimidated, claimed Henry

25:02

forced him into the woods, Once

25:04

there, Henry ordered him to kneel

25:06

down and touch the boulder that had been

25:08

found on Tracy's head. Michael

25:11

claimed he moved the rock about a foot,

25:13

and that he scratched his hand when he touched

25:15

it, leaving trace amounts of blood

25:17

on its surface. As Michael walked

25:19

out of the woods, his friend with a motorcycle

25:22

reappeared, and Michael rode away with

25:24

him. Brightens that he would be implicated

25:26

in the situation. He didn't stop to

25:29

get help for Tracy, or alert authorities

25:31

to what he'd seen. Michael's

25:33

tail sought to pin the blame for Tracy's

25:35

death squarely on Henry Mineholz,

25:38

unaware that Henry had been cleared

25:40

as a suspect in Tracy's murder. Michael

25:43

also claimed that Tracy made

25:45

sexual advances towards him weeks

25:48

before her death. He said she'd rubbed

25:50

his upper leg and attempted to kiss him

25:52

in the bedroom of his home. He

25:54

said he had rebuffed her because he

25:56

was uncircumcised, and he

25:58

worried that she would laugh at him.

26:01

Just a reminder that Tracy was only

26:03

fifteen at the time of her death.

26:06

Michael contacted his pastor David

26:08

Trotman, when his interview concluded.

26:11

Pastor Trotman reported this conversation

26:13

to the police at the urging of his son,

26:15

who was a reserved police officer. The

26:18

pastor told police that Michael had

26:20

been disturbed, distressed, and

26:22

desperate, and that he'd made potentially

26:25

incriminating statements in their conversation.

26:28

Michael was worried that he was going to be arrested

26:30

for a thirty year old murder in Massachusetts.

26:33

He claimed that he'd been looking for a girl

26:35

who had been taken into the woods by another

26:37

man, and that while looking for

26:39

her, he had knocked or

26:42

thrown a rock onto the girl's head.

26:44

A seventy three pound rock.

26:47

When pastor troutman asked Michael

26:49

why he hadn't gone to police right away,

26:51

he explained that he'd been too afraid

26:54

to think. On March ninth

26:56

twenty eighteen, a mere two

26:58

days after he'd been interviewed as a potential

27:00

witness, Michael Hand was

27:02

arrested for Tracy's murder. Carrie

27:05

Gilpin, then superintendent of the Massachusetts

27:07

State Police, released a public statement

27:10

expressing her family's gratitude. For

27:12

the past three decades, we've remained

27:14

hopeful that Tracy's murderer would be

27:17

identified. The much welcomed

27:19

news of an arrest in the case leaves

27:21

us cautiously optimistic that

27:23

justice for Tracy is within

27:25

reach. Carrie had not been

27:27

involved in the investigation of her sister's

27:29

murder. Plymouth County District

27:32

Attorney Timothy Cruise, explained She

27:34

may be the colonel of the state police, but

27:36

she is also Tracy's sister. It

27:39

was important for us to treat her like a

27:41

victim rather than as the superintendent. Michael

27:44

Hand was held in the IRDell County

27:46

jail in North Carolina until

27:48

a hearing on March twelfth when he agreed

27:50

to return to Massachusetts to face

27:52

the charges. As Plymouth

27:55

County investigators work to piece together

27:57

the events leading up to Tracy's death,

27:59

Michael's neighbors and acquaintances in North

28:02

Carolina and Massachusetts nutu sits

28:04

reacted to the news of his arrest.

28:07

Because the affidavit supporting the murder

28:09

charges against Michael is sealed, There

28:11

isn't much known about the case against

28:13

him. In the absence of public information,

28:16

people that knew Michael began to pour

28:18

over their interactions with him. Searching

28:21

for any hint that in hindsight

28:24

might point to a shocking arrest. The

28:27

story shared about Michael and both Kings

28:29

and Anne Trotman tended to paint a picture

28:31

of a man whose relationships were often

28:34

at arm's length. Michael lived

28:36

alone on the dead end cut street

28:38

until his arrest. He lived

28:40

primarily on disability pay, but

28:42

also bred dogs and sold dump

28:44

cars and parts to make money on the side.

28:47

He liked to falsely claim that he'd

28:49

been a police officer in Boston until

28:51

back problems forced his retirement. He

28:54

also claimed that he was in the witness protection

28:56

program due to his police work. Michael's

28:59

neighbors and troutman described him as

29:01

an argumentative man who couldn't hold

29:03

down a job. An eighty one

29:05

year old woman who was a neighbor of Michaels

29:08

had a lot to say. She said he

29:10

was an opinionated Yankee with gun

29:12

collection, who was always hard up for

29:15

money. Although she thought Michael was

29:17

a know it all with an attitude, she

29:19

did say, He was always very

29:21

helpful if I needed anything. He

29:23

offered to help me with my yard work. He

29:25

never did it, but he offered

29:28

His neighbor across the street said he went

29:31

out of his way to avoid Michael because

29:33

he, quote, really had a problem

29:35

getting along with people. Although

29:38

he wasn't the most well liked,

29:40

his neighbors expressed surprise at the

29:42

violent nature of the charges brought against

29:44

him. As news of Michael's arrest

29:46

spread in Kingston, former

29:48

neighbors on Brookdale Street began to

29:51

share their experiences as well. He

29:53

was largely remembered as a strange

29:56

man who ran a small business carving

29:58

tombstones in his driveway. He

30:00

was also known for a sizable gun collection,

30:02

which he enjoyed firing out behind

30:04

his house. Sometimes his yard

30:06

would become cluttered with the junk cars that

30:08

he sold. Michael wasn't

30:11

a small guy, and neighbor said that he seemed

30:13

to have no trouble moving auto parts

30:15

weighing several hundred pounds around. One

30:18

neighbor said that Michael was definitely

30:20

a creepy guy and was relieved

30:22

when he moved away. But hindsight

30:25

does change perspective. Christine

30:28

and Tom Neva lived across the street

30:30

from Michael on Brookdale Street for many

30:32

years. Tom had grown up in

30:34

the neighborhood with the Hand family. And

30:36

considered Michael a friend. He said,

30:39

a lot of people considered Michael a little

30:41

strange because he did his own thing. Tom

30:43

recalled an afternoon of shooting targets

30:46

in Michael's backyard. At one

30:48

point, a local police officer poked

30:50

his head around the side of the house to

30:52

see what was going on. When the officer

30:54

spotted Michael, he relaxed and

30:57

said, oh, you're with Mike? You're

30:59

all set. Michael's departure

31:01

from the neighborhood hadn't ended the friendship.

31:04

Tom had visited Michael in North Carolina

31:06

just a few months prior to his arrest.

31:09

Considering the charges of murder, Tom

31:11

said, Mike's done a lot of stupid

31:14

things, but I don't think murder is

31:16

one of them. He's always been a good friend

31:18

to me. Christine, Tom's

31:20

wife, felt a little differently about

31:23

her husband's friend, saying, he's

31:25

always had an odd way about him. It

31:27

was always very nice to me. He never

31:29

did anything negative, but some people

31:31

just give you this feeling that they're

31:33

a little odd, and I just tried to stay

31:35

away. Christine Charitably

31:38

recalled that Michael had carved two granite

31:40

headstones in his driveway for her when she

31:42

lost her pet dog and later a

31:44

pony. Years later,

31:46

the Nevas had several arguments with Michael

31:49

when they build a horse farm on their property.

31:51

Upon hearing of the murder charge, Christine

31:54

said, Of course, there's a shock factor,

31:56

but I was not overly surprised.

31:59

No. Christine and Tom bought

32:01

Michael's family home in two thousand seven

32:03

when he moved away to North Carolina. The

32:06

state of the property was shocking.

32:09

Many of the walls had holes in them,

32:11

and the floors were littered with animal

32:13

feces. The basement was

32:15

particularly bad. For

32:17

years, Michael had kept dogs

32:19

confined there. The desperate

32:22

dogs had chewed through the floor

32:24

joists and parts of the wall

32:26

as they attempted to eat their way out of

32:28

the basement. Christine asked

32:30

another neighbor, Rob Arrow Smith,

32:33

to help her renovate the dilapidated house.

32:36

Rob, who owned a construction company,

32:38

had also grown up in Kingston with Michael.

32:41

Rob was also disturbed by the state

32:43

of the handhouse when he first inspected

32:45

it. He said, there was a grate

32:47

installed in the living room floor, a

32:49

steel grate. It was creepy.

32:52

He suggested that the Nevas hire a demolition

32:55

crew to tear apart the home's interior. The

32:58

years of felt and neglect had caused

33:00

irreparable damage. Following

33:02

Rob's advice, Christine had the

33:04

house gutted and rebuilt the interior

33:06

before selling the property to family.

33:10

Within days of his arrest, Michael

33:12

Hand was in Massachusetts. He

33:14

was arraigned on March fourteenth twenty

33:16

eighteen at Brockton District Court

33:19

after power failure forced officials

33:21

to move proceedings at the last minute.

33:24

Tracy's family looked on as

33:26

Michael's attorneys entered a not

33:28

guilty plea on his behalf. The

33:30

judge ordered that Michael be held without bail

33:32

until his next court appearance a month

33:34

later. After the

33:36

arraignment, Plymouth County DA

33:39

Timothy Cruz told reporters, his

33:41

statement puts him at the scene. Puts

33:44

his hand on a rock and allegedly

33:46

bleeding on a rock, which he subsequently

33:49

states he dropped on the head of miss Gilpin.

33:52

I'm really glad that the family now knows

33:54

who the killer is, and we're gonna make

33:56

sure we do everything we can to

33:59

get justice for Tracy Gilpin.

34:02

At a pre trial hearing on April

34:04

thirteenth twenty eighteen, his

34:06

attorney requested funds to hire a

34:08

private investigator. He also

34:10

asked for access to the recordings of

34:12

Michael's statements made when investigators first

34:15

interviewed him in North Carolina. Assistant

34:18

DA, Jennifer Sprague, objected to this

34:20

request due to an ongoing grand

34:22

jury investigation and the possibility

34:25

of DNA evidence. The judge

34:27

ordered that the recorded interviews be

34:29

turned over to the defense by the next

34:31

court date scheduled for May twenty

34:33

third a month later. Michael

34:35

was indicted by a grand jury on May

34:38

twenty second twenty eighteen, and

34:40

his case was bound over to Plymouth Superior

34:42

Court. He was charged with

34:44

one count each of murder, kidnapping,

34:47

and assault with intent to rape a child.

34:50

He was arraigned for a second time for these

34:52

charges in early June twenty eighteen

34:55

and continued to be held without bail.

34:58

During the year of twenty nineteen, however,

35:00

the kidnapping and assault charges were dropped,

35:02

and Michael's defense team asked the public

35:05

to come forward with any information about

35:07

other possible suspects in Tracy's

35:09

murder. As Michael

35:11

Hand sat in jail awaiting trial,

35:14

The COVID nineteen pandemic ground

35:16

the legal system to a halt. Courts

35:19

in Plymouth County were closed, causing

35:21

delays which were compounded by

35:23

the shortage of court workers, the

35:25

resulting backlog pushed some

35:27

trials back as far as four years.

35:30

Michael who was not particularly well

35:33

liked in jail was anxious to get on

35:35

with the proceedings. By May

35:37

of twenty twenty two, Both the prosecution

35:40

and the defense had filed several motions

35:42

pertaining to what evidence could be presented

35:44

to the jury at trial. One motion

35:47

filed by prosecutors requested that

35:49

statements of innocence from Michael's interrogation

35:52

be disallowed. By May

35:54

of twenty twenty two, both the

35:56

prosecution and the defense had

35:58

filed several motions pertaining

36:00

to what evidence could be presented to the

36:02

jury at trial. One motion

36:04

filed by prosecutors requested

36:06

that statements of innocence from Michael's

36:09

interrogation be disallowed. Including,

36:12

quote, I didn't smash Tracy's

36:14

face, and I have no blood

36:16

on my hands from Gilpin. Period.

36:20

In another motion, prosecution requested

36:22

that the judge allow the jury to hear the

36:24

testimony from pastor troutman. Regarding

36:27

his conversation with Michael in the

36:29

days before his arrest. The

36:31

pastor told police that he didn't believe

36:33

their conversation fell under any kind

36:35

of privilege because it wasn't religious in

36:37

nature. Michael hadn't approached

36:39

the pastor for spiritual counsel when

36:42

he discussed his involvement in Tracy's

36:44

death. On June first

36:46

twenty twenty two, Michael's attorney

36:48

said in court that it was indisputable that

36:51

semen found in Tracy's underwear did

36:53

not belong to him. Nor did the

36:55

DNA found on the rock used

36:57

to crush Tracy skull. The

37:00

defense did not want a continuance. They

37:02

hoped to prove Michael's innocence as soon

37:04

as possible as he'd been sitting

37:06

in jail for four years. A

37:09

week later, however, the judge granted

37:11

a continuance so that prosecution can

37:13

investigate a new lead. According

37:16

to assistant DA, Jennifer Sprague,

37:19

The state needed to interview two witnesses

37:21

and run a DNA test that could benefit

37:23

Michael's case. Sprague explained

37:26

that an anonymous tip had come in

37:28

claiming that another man had been with

37:30

Tracy the night she disappeared. The

37:33

man had refused to give DNA and

37:35

threatened to invoke the fifth amendment. So

37:37

the state obtained a DNA sample from his

37:39

brother and was waiting to test it against

37:41

the DNA obtained from the crime scene.

37:44

A new trial date was set for September

37:46

six, twenty twenty two. On

37:49

August eight, state men from Michael's

37:52

pastor were ruled inadmissible to

37:54

be presented during trial. The judge

37:56

also found that the interrogation conducted

37:59

by police involved coercion. Enrolled

38:01

at portions of Michael's interview were

38:03

involuntary. After his

38:05

talk with police, Michael reiterated

38:08

and even amplified some aspects

38:10

of the story to his pastor. But because

38:13

of the impropriety in the police interview,

38:15

those statements too were inadmissible.

38:19

The details of what went wrong legally

38:22

during the interrogation have not been

38:24

released. The defense appealed this

38:26

ruling, which postponed the trial

38:28

once again to October fifth

38:31

twenty twenty two. At

38:33

the time of this recording, the case

38:35

against Michael Hand is still in progress

38:38

as is the investigation of Tracy Gilpin's

38:40

murder. While we wait for

38:42

justice for Tracy, life continues

38:45

on for her friends and loved ones. In

38:48

October twenty nineteen, Carrie

38:50

Gilpin announced the formation of

38:52

a statewide unsolved case unit

38:55

to investigate cold cases and other

38:57

violent crimes. The unit would

38:59

consist of five state troopers experienced

39:01

in homicide investigation. These

39:04

troopers would partner with state's district

39:06

attorneys whose offices held jurisdiction

39:08

over unsolved murders. Gary

39:11

said, there are so many cases over

39:13

the years that even in light

39:15

of the outstanding and tireless efforts

39:17

of police and prosecutors have not been

39:19

resolved for a variety of reasons. I

39:22

hope that by creating a dedicated unit,

39:24

we will build upon the excellent work that's

39:26

already been done on these cases and

39:28

achieve the breakthroughs we need to

39:30

secure justice for these victims and

39:33

their families. District

39:35

attorneys around the state were pleased with the announcement.

39:38

Worcester County DA, Joe Earley,

39:40

said, I'm excited that Colonel Gilpin

39:42

is putting resources into these horrible

39:44

crimes. These families still experience

39:47

a lot of pain. The

39:49

creation of the unsolved case unit was

39:51

one of Carrie's last acts as

39:53

superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police.

39:56

On November sixth twenty nineteen,

39:58

she announced her retirement from the force

40:01

two years after stepping up to lead it.

40:03

Before Anne during her tenure as

40:06

superintendent, the force was embroiled

40:08

in one epic scandal after another.

40:10

It was in a peaval when Carrie accepted

40:12

her promotion, and she pursued an agenda

40:15

of reform with courage and

40:17

tenacity. Despite her leadership

40:19

and dedication, the pushback she experienced

40:22

as she worked to rebuild public trust

40:24

began to grind her down. Still,

40:27

she considered her time as superintendent to

40:29

be the greatest honor of her professional life.

40:32

Gary gave her parting words in letter

40:34

to state police employees. We

40:36

have accomplished so much during this difficult

40:39

time, and I am confident you will

40:41

continue to build on this foundation. She

40:44

remains extremely proud of her career

40:46

with the force. Carrie

40:48

Gilpin's legacy, a dedication to

40:51

the victims of unsolved violent

40:53

crimes, will live on long

40:55

after her career. Now as civilian,

40:58

Carrie watches from the sidelines as the

41:00

legal process inges forward, Meanwhile,

41:03

Michael Hand awaits trial anxious

41:06

for the opportunity to prove his innocence.

41:08

With investigations ongoing, It's

41:10

possible new information will come to light.

41:13

Whatever arises, we hope that

41:15

it leads to justice for Gilpin.

41:22

Though an arrest has been made,

41:24

the work on this case is not

41:26

done. If you are holding on to any

41:28

information regarding the murder of Tracy

41:31

Gilpin, now is the time to

41:33

come forward. I encourage you to reach out

41:35

to the Worcester County District Attorney's Office

41:37

at 5087558601.

41:42

This case will probably be headed to trial

41:45

any day now, and I look forward to bringing

41:47

you an update in the future. For more

41:49

immediate updates, follow murder

41:51

she told on Facebook Instagram,

41:54

and TikTok. Thank you

41:56

so much for listening. If you're

41:58

enjoying murder she told, I would love

42:00

it if you shared it with a friend. Word-of-mouth

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or sharing on social media or recommending

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it is one of the best ways to help

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reach new listeners. And if you wanna

42:09

support show in other ways, there's a link in

42:11

the show notes with options. A detailed

42:13

list of sources and photos from

42:15

this episode and more can be found at

42:17

murder sheet toll dot com. Thank you

42:20

to Meg Kooker for her writing, to

42:22

Byron Willis for his research and writing support,

42:24

into Erica Pierce and Sophie Ricker

42:26

for their research support. If you have

42:28

a suggestion or correction, I would love

42:31

to hear from you. You can email me at hello

42:33

at emergency toll dot com. I'm

42:35

Kristen Sevi, and this is murder

42:37

she told. Thank you for listening.