Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘The Salem Strangler’ of ABC’s ’20/20′ chronicles the 1986 murder of a 20-year-old college student named Claire Gravel and the attempted murder of Rosemary Diskin in the summer of 2007. Both crimes were committed by John W. Carey Jr., who was eventually brought to justice for them. The documentary features interviews with Claire and Rosemary’s loved ones and the officials who worked hard to solve the cases.
John Carey Managed to Remain Out of Prison For Killing Claire Gravel For Years
Born around 1960, John W. Carey Jr. was in his 20s when he killed 20-year-old Claire Gravel, a bright student of Salem State University, on June 29, 1986. As per investigative reports, he strangled her to death using her black tank top and disposed of her remains in a wooded area in Beverly. Although his DNA was collected from the crime scene, the detectives couldn’t link him to the gruesome crime due to a lack of technology at the time. A couple of decades later, in 2007, John was living on Bramblewood Lane in Braintree, Massachusetts, when he played golf with his neighbor Timothy a few times. Timothy was the husband of Rosemary Diskin, who took care of John’s daughter after his divorce from his wife a few years earlier.
On the fateful night of June 6, 2007, John Carey allegedly called the Diskin household to ask if Timothy was available to go golfing with him. When Rosemary told him that her husband was away, John visited the couple’s residence in Hamilton, Massachusetts. As per Rosemary, John attacked her while she went to the telephone and tried to strangle her with his necktie after punching her multiple times in the mouth and head. Upon hearing the noise, Rosemary’s then 12-year-old son came to her rescue, after which John fled the scene. The following morning, John turned himself in to the police and claimed that he was in the Diskin residence to have consensual sex with Rosemary. However, his claims of them being lovers and having consensual sex were dismissed by Rosemary.
After his arrest, the police searched his house and computer and found disturbing pornographic images, depicting asphyxiation during sex. At the time, his DNA was collected and added to the national CODIS database. Several months later, on March 26, 2008, John Carey was found guilty of attempted murder, home invasion, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery in connection with the strangulation of Rosemary. The following day, on March 27, the convict was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the home invasion charge and 18-20 years concurrent for the other charges. On May 26, 2011, his appeal to overturn his convictions was denied by the Court of Appeals, which upheld them.
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John Carey is Currently Incarcerated at a Massachusetts Prison
While John W. Carey Jr. was serving his 20-year sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution for the attempted murder of Rosemary Diskin, he was linked to the killing of 20-year-old Claire Gravel as his DNA matched the DNA sample collected from her tank top in 2022. In light of the forensic evidence, he was charged with Claire’s homicide. During his 2026 jury trial, Rosemary Diskin testified against John and described her encounter with the defendant. The prosecution also showed the physical evidence that tied him to the homicide. In the end, on March 3, 2026, he was finally found guilty of first-degree murder.
On April 9, 2026, during his sentencing hearing in Essex County Superior Court, he refused to take the stand, but Claire’s loved ones addressed him directly. Her sister, Denise Foley, took the stand and said, “I’ve been waiting 39 years, 9 months, and 9 days for today. I continued to have nightmares for months of my sister Claire screaming for one of us to come help her, and none of us were there.” Finally, John was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his involvement in the killing of Claire Gravel. As of today, the killer is in his 60s and is serving his sentence at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts.
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