In Lawrence Superior Court, opening statements took place Tuesday in the re-trial of Marvin McClendon.
The 77-year-old Alabama man is charged with the 1988 murder of 11-year-old Melissa Tremblay.
In September 1988, the Salem, New Hampshire girl was found beaten and stabbed in a Lawrence railyard.
This is McClendon’s second trial.
His first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury became deadlocked.
Over the decades, there have been other suspects in Melissa’s case, but no arrests.
Everything recently changed when police developed male DNA from one of Melissa’s fingernails that led them to Marvin McClendon’s immediate family.
Marvin, prosecutors say, is left-handed, like Melissa’s killer, and unlike his other family members.
In her opening statement, a prosecutor played video showing McClendon talking to police in Alabama about Melissa’s murder and using his left hand to describe her injuries.
“Indirectly, or circumstantially, the evidence you have will show you that he was in fact in that rail yard on September 11th, 1988, and that he did in fact kill her,” prosecutor Jessica Strasnick told the jury.
But McClendon’s lawyer told the jury the evidence against McClendon is circumstantial and does not go beyond a reasonable doubt.
“This crime has not been solved. Not one person sitting in this courtroom knows who killed Melissa Tremblay by the end of this trial, you will be joining that group,” defense attorney Henry Fasoldt told the jury.
Melissa’s cousin, Danielle Root lives in Tennessee.
She attended McClendon’s first trial, and she is back in Massachusetts for McClendon’s second trial.
She believes McClendon murdered her cousin.
“They did their due diligence. They looked at every option, every person.
We believe he’s the one,” Root said.
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.
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