Thursday, 4:30 PM
Man convicted of 1985 murder in Lowell
By Globe Staff
Almost 22 years after the crime, a Fitchburg man was convicted today of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of a mother who was found dead in her Lowell home by her 11-year-old daughter.
Walter Emeney, 61, was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison, according to a statement from the Middlesex district attorney’s office. Emeney was convicted by a Middlesex Superior Court jury of killing 32-year-old Patricia Clark.
"Today's murder conviction demonstrates that, while time may pass, we will never give up on a victim and the clock never runs out in the pursuit of justice," Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a statement. "The family of Patricia Clark was torn apart by the horrific actions of Walter Emeney some 22 years ago, but they never gave up and now they have won the justice that she deserves."
According to prosecutors, Clark was found stabbed to death in her home on Morse Street at 3 p.m. on Nov. 19, 1985, when her daughter, Alecia Clark, came home from school. When neighbors heard the daughter scream, they called police.
Investigators learned that Emeney and Clark were coworkers and that he had become infatuated with her, prosecutors said. Police said they had discovered inconsistencies in Emeney's alibi the day of the slaying but did not have enough evidence to convict him.
