New trial rejected in 1972 slaying
SJC says evidence in death of teen overwhelming
The state's highest court yesterday reversed a decision to grant a new trial to a man convicted in the 1972 kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old male from North Attleborough.
Edward Lykus, then 19, was convicted of killing his neighbor, Paul Cavalieri, during a kidnapping scheme to collect a $50,000 ransom.
Lykus was granted a new trial in 2005 after a judge found that the FBI withheld information that could have cast doubt on a voiceprint analysis used by prosecutors to help convict him.
But the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the evidence against Lykus was overwhelming and that the defense was not seriously hurt when the FBI did not turn over the voice report.
The court cited a series of contradictory statements Lykus gave to police, his admission that he placed a call from the pay phone where a ransom call was made, his possession of some ransom money, and testimony from seven witnesses who identified Lykus as the speaker in one of the ransom calls.
Cavalieri left his home early on the evening of Nov. 2, 1972, and never returned.
Over the next week, Cavalieri's parents received a series of ransom calls and notes. The boy's body was found on April 12, 1973. He had been shot.
In his motion for a new trial, Lykus argued that prosecutors failed to turn over a report and memo from the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., that said that although many similarities were found when the lab compared a voice sample from Lykus and the voice on one of the ransom calls, it was not possible to definitely say whether the call was made by Lykus.
The judge who granted Lykus a new trial in 2005 found that the FBI never turned over the report to state prosecutors, but said prosecutors could be held accountable for the failure because they were cooperating closely with the FBI on the case.
The SJC, however, said that not getting the report did not undermine Lykus's defense, because seven friends of Cavalieri identified him as the speaker in the third ransom call.
Lykus's attorney, Chauncey Wood, said he was disappointed in the court's ruling and was considering challenging it in federal court.
He disagreed with the emphasis the court placed on the testimony of Lykus's friends, whom he said identified his voice "based on the most suggestive circumstances imaginable."
Wood said all seven knew Lykus was the prime suspect in the case before they were asked to go to the police station to listen to voice recordings.
Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, said prosecutors believed the lower court judge wrongly granted Lykus a new trial. 