Carl Drew's Blind Justice
Carl Drew and Paul Carey,
MCI- Bay State, 2002
Detective Paul Carey
Paul Carey was the Fall River Police Departments Lead Detective investigating the Fall River Cult Murders. Due to the fact Carl Drew complied with their every request throughout their investigation and there was not an iota of evidence found to support he had any involvement, Detective Carey always believed in Carl Drew's innocence.
Upon his retirement from the F.R.P.D. Paul Carey began his own investigation of the so-called cult murders. Paul devoted his time to hunting down those who testified against Carl at the Marsden trial. Paul tracked down Maureen "Sunny" Sparda, Carol Fletcher and Lea Johnson. All three women willingly signed affidavits stating they felt coerced to give what they knew to be false testimony against Carl Drew.
In 2004, Attorney Michael Cutler would build a case to get Carl back into court for retrial. All three women would take the stand, explaining why they knowingly gave false testimony against Carl Drew. One of the women, Carol Fletcher, would explain what really happened they night Karen Marsden was murdered. However, the judge felt the women's testimonies to be unreliable. Attorney Cutler's request would be denied, and Carl Drew would remain incarcerated.
The knowledge that an innocent man remains incarcerated for life for a crime in which he had no knowledge of involvement is an injustice that haunted Carey until his passing in 2019.
Detective Alan Silvia
Alan Silvia was one of the Fall River Police Department Detectives investigating the Fall River Cult Murders. Unlike his colleague Paul Carey, Silvia feels Carl Drew was guilty of the crime. Though, in recent years Silvia has stated Carl Drew should have been charged with second degree murder, and Murphy first degree.
In a statement to the Grand Jury, State Trooper Paul J. Fitzgerald provided us with a specific timeline for the night which murder Karen Marsden allegedly took place. Fitzgerald described the how the events unfolded and stated to the Grand Jury “this was on February 8th, 1980, between the hours of 8:00 and 10:00 at night.” We were provided with a specific date and time. Fitzgerald’s statement helped to lead up to Carl Drew’s indictment and guilty verdict for the murder of Karen Marsden.
If you watch James Buddy Day’s documentary Fall River, you can see for yourself both former Fall River Police Detectives Alan Silvia and Thomas Joaquim describe how they were with Karen the night of February 8th, 1980, up until 11:00 PM. They explained how they took Karen out to the Fall River Reservation and drove around for a while. They explained how they wanted, and they received approval to place Karen into protective custody as she expressed fear for her life. However, Karen refused and asked to be taken to St. Mary's Cathedral to meet with the priest. The detectives stated they dropped her off on the sidewalk of St. Mary’s and they drove away. The time was around 11:00 PM. They never saw her go into the church and they did not see Karen again.
This conflicts with the facts given to the Grand Jury and used to convict Carl Drew. Per the Grand Jury minutes Alan Silvia himself advised he “had been with Karen Marsden a few days prior to her disappearance in questioning her.”
The Grand jury was led to believe Karen Marsden was murdered between the hours of 8:00 and 10:00 on the night of February 8th. If that were true, how could Karen be in with two Fall River Police detectives at 11pm on February 8th?
