Former priest accused of 1972 killing, DA closes investigation

HAMPDEN, Mass. — A murder case nearly 50 years old has been officially closed after new evidence has come to light, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni announced on Monday in a news release.

Danny Croteau, 13, was found dead on April 15, 1972 in the Connecticut River in Chicopee. He was found wearing clothes from his previous school day at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School, the DA said.

Last Friday, Massachusetts State Police detectives were authorized by Gulluni to present the case against former priest Richard Lavigne to a magistrate to obtain an arrest warrant for the murder of Croteau. But Lavigne died May 21 in a hospital in Greenfield, the DA said.

“Danny’s parents, Carl and Bernice, told reporters that they just wanted answers,” Gulluni said. “Based on the accumulation of historical evidence, the evidence gained in the last year, and the admissions of Richard Lavigne, I believe we now have those answers. While they didn’t come in time for Danny’s parents to hear them, I hope that the answers provided today are helpful to Danny’s remaining family who have suffered for so long.”

In March 2020, Gulluni assigned an officer in the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Cases Unit to work on Croteau’s murder case. Officials combed through thousands of documents and evidence, which uncovered chances for modern forensic testing and leads.

At the time of Croteau’s murder, Lavigne was a Roman Catholic priest and friend of the Croteau family, according to the DA. Lavigne met the family in 1967 while assigned to Saint Catherine of Sienna in Springfield, the Croteaus’ parish.

Danny and his four brothers served as altar boys at the parish, the DA said, and assisted Lavigne as Mass.

Lavigne became a person of interest in the early stages of the murder investigation because of inconsistent and unusual statements he told investigators in the days after the murder, the DA said.

Gulluni told reporters Monday that incriminating admissions Lavigne made in a series of recent interviews with an investigator further implicated the longtime suspect in Croteau’s death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group