Hampden DA: Former priest killed boy, 13, nearly 50 years ago
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announces Monday, May 24, 2021, that nearly 50 years after police discovered the dead body of 13-year-old Danny Croteau floating in the Chicopee River, his office concluded that Croteau’s killer was former Catholic priest Richard Lavigne, a convicted sex offender who died Friday. STAFF PHOTO/DUSTY CHRISTENSEN
A photo of 13-year-old Danny Croteau, who in 1972 was found dead in the Chicopee River. Hampden County’s top prosecutor has announced that his office concluded Croteau’s killer was former Catholic priest Richard Lavigne, a convicted sex offender who died Friday. SUBMITTED PHOTO
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Nearly five decades after an altar boy was found dead in a Massachusetts river, the district attorney says the case is closed.
Danny Croteau, 13, was found dead along the Chicopee River in Springfield on April 15, 1972. He had been bludgeoned to death.
Former Catholic priest Richard R. Lavigne was named as a suspect in the case but never charged. He died Friday, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni said. In fact, earlier that day, I authorized members of my office s state police detective unit to present the facts of our investigation to a magistrate in order to obtain a complaint and arrest warrant for Richard Lavigne, Gulluni said.
Massachusetts authorities investigating the 1972 murder of a 13-year-old altar boy have determined that a defrocked Roman Catholic priest who recently died was his killer, bringing an end to a cold case that remained unsolved for nearly half a century.
Hampden DA: Former priest killed boy, 13, nearly 50 years ago
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announces Monday, May 24, 2021, that nearly 50 years after police discovered the dead body of 13-year-old Danny Croteau floating in the Chicopee River, his office concluded that Croteau’s killer was former Catholic priest Richard Lavigne, a convicted sex offender who died Friday. STAFF PHOTO/DUSTY CHRISTENSEN
A photo of 13-year-old Danny Croteau. SUBMITTED PHOTO
A photo of former Catholic priest Richard Lavigne, who Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced Monday was responsible for the murder of 13-year-old Danny Croteau in 1972. Lavigne, a convicted sex offender, died on Friday. SUBMITTED PHOTO