The McCabe family waited more than 41 years for arrests to be made in the murder of their son/brother. Their pursuit of justice may be nearing a conclusion. In April, 2011, law enforcement officials arrested Edward Brown of Londonderry, NH, Michael Ferreira of Salem NH and Walter Shelley of Tewksbury in connection with the death of Johnny McCabe. The 15-year-old Tewksbury High student was walking home from a dance at the Knights of Columbus on Sept. 26, 1969, when he was grabbed off the street, driven to a vacant lot in Lowell and tied up in such a way that it caused him to suffocate. Brown, …

Michael Ferreira may soon be released from prison pending his trial on charges of first degree murder and perjury. Ferreira, a resident of Salem, NH, has been held without bail in Middlesex County jail since he was arraigned in juvenile court on murder charges in connection with the 1969 death of Tewksbury 15-year-old Johnny McCabe. A juvenile court judge ruled last month there was sufficient cause to try Ferreira as an adult, despite the fact he was just 16 at the time of the killing. He was subsequently indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury. On Thursday, Ferreira was arraigned in Lowell…

A Middlesex County Grand Jury has indicted a third man in connection with the 1969 murder of Tewksbury teen Johnny McCabe. According to District Attorney Gerald Leone, Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, NH, was indicted on one count of first degree murder. He will be arraigned in Lowell Superior Court, but a date has not yet been set. Ferreira was 15 years old when he, Walter Shelley and Edward Brown allegedly, all Tewksbury residents at the time, kidnapped McCabe as he walked home from a dance at the Knights of Columbus on a September night in 1969. According to investigators, Ferriera and …

Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, NH, the youngest of the three men charged in connection with the 1969 murder of Johnny McCabe, was arraigned Friday in Lowell District Court on one count of first degree murder. According to a spokesperson for Middlesex County District Attorney Gerald Leone, Judge Thomas Brennan ordered the defendant held without bail. Ferriera, who was 15 at the time of the killing, was previously charged with murder in Juvenile Court, but was moved to District Court last week following a judge’s ruling. Ferreira had also been indicted on May 26 on one count of perjury for …

Updated at 7 p.m. Lowell District Court Judge Patricia Flynn has ruled there is probable cause for Michael Ferreira, one of three men charged in connection with the death of Johnny McCabe back in 1969, to be tried as an adult for first-degree murder. “We are pleased with the Judge’s ruling which found probable cause to have Michael Ferreira be tried as an adult for the murder of John McCabe," said District Attorney Gerald Leone. "We will now continue to prepare to hold all three defendants accountable for the death of John McCabe in a court of law.” McCabe's family, who spent over four …

More than 41 years after prosecutors say he participated in the murder of Tewksbury teen Johnny McCabe, Walter Shelley was arraigned Tuesday in Lowell Superior Court. Shelley, 60, one of three men indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury in connection with the 1969 slaying of the 15-year-old, is charged with first-degree murder and intimidation of a witness. According to a spokesperson for District Attorney Gerry Leone, Shelley, the only defendant who still lives in Tewksbury, is scheduled to be back in court on July 5 for pre-trial conferencing. Bail was continued at $500,000, which Shelley…

UPDATED Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Michael Ferreira was just 15 years old when prosecutors allege he and two other teens murdered fellow Tewksbury teen Johnny McCabe back in 1969. In the next few days, a Lowell Juvenile Court Judge will decide whether or not Ferreira should be tried as an adult for that crime. McCabe was also just 15 years old when he was allegedly kidnapped by Ferreira, Edward Brown and Walter Shelley while walking home from a dance at the Knights of Columbus. Prosecutors allege McCabe was beaten in the backseat of a car by Brown and Ferreira, while Shelley drove to a vacant lot in…

UPDATED: 9 p.m. Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone announced today that three men have been indicted by a Grand Jury on charges connected to the 1969 murder of Tewksbury teen Johnny McCabe.  Alan Brown, 59, of Londonberry, NH, was indicted on one count of manslaughter. Walter Shelley, 60, of Tewksbury, was indicted on one count of first degree murder and one count of intimidation of a witness. Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, NH, was indicted on one count of perjury for lying to the Grand Jury. Because Ferreira was 15 at the time of the incident, he is also being charged in juvenile court…

While confessing to his role in causing the 1969 death of Johnny McCabe,  Edward Brown said, on more than one occasion that the death, itself, was an accident. According to court documents, during police interrogation in March, Brown said he, Michael Ferreira and Walter Shelley just "wanted to teach (McCabe) a lesson," and that the death was an unforeseen byproduct of a prank gone horribly wrong. That could be true, at least in part. But there is evidence in the case that raises the possibility that one, if not all three suspects, had an idea that McCabe would die that night in Septemeber …

Though no one in the office of District Attorney Gerry Leone's office will go on the record to confirm, all indications are that a Middlesex County Grand Jury will hand down indictments shortly against Walter Shelley, Michael Ferreira and Edward Brown in connection with the 1969 murder of Johnny McCabe, a 15-year-old Tewksbury High student. At that point, the case will shift from District Court to Middlesex County Superior Court, either in Lowell or Woburn. In the meantime, here are 10 facts we know about the case to this point. Brown finally cracks A tip broke open  the McCabe murder case in…

Johnny McCabe, as family and friends knew him, was a boy who loved life. His sister, Roberta Donovan, remembers him in the garage at all hours, constantly fiddling with lawnmower parts, playing with mechanical odds and ends, or working to fix up his mini-bike. The garage was a second home to the teenaged boy. “If you looked at his fingernails they were embedded, embedded with oil and dirt from working on engines in the garage,” she said, “He was a boy who liked to get into things, tinkering with his hands." Donovan said she remembered Johnny spending time in the bathroom on the evening of the…

Edward Alan Brown, already facing a manslaughter charge in connection with the death of Johhny McCabe of Tewksbury back in 1969, has been arrested again, this time at his home in Londonderry, NH. According to the web site www.londonderrynh.net, Brown allegedly threatened to kill his wife and then himself with a .38 caliber handgun. He allegedly made the threat while at work in Salem, Sunday evening. Londonderry Police learned about the threat and that night, according to the web site, they attempted to call the Brown home. The first call was answered and then quickly disconnected. Several …

Who killed Johnny McCabe? That was what Carol “Maggie” Coffey wanted to know. She posted that very question on Topix, an online forum, on July 28, 2010. “Does anyone remember Johnny McCabe, murdered after leaving the Knights of Columbus dance?” she wrote in her first post. The body of John McCabe, a 15-year-old Tewksbury resident had been found on September 27, 1969, bound and gagged, and left to asphyxiate in a vacant lot in Lowell. These posts came more than eight months before three men, Edward Brown, Walter Shelley, and Mike Ferreira were charged with counts ranging from perjury to …

In 1999, Michael Ferreira moved to Salem, NH. Last week he returned to Massachusetts to defend himself against the charge of murdering a Tewksbury boy over 40 years ago, and reactions to the news in his adopted hometown have been varied. For many people living and working in Salem, a town of approximately 30,000 people just over the Massachusetts border on I-93, have largely either been too busy with their daily lives to have heard the news that an alleged murderer was living in their midst or were too busy to think much about it. “It’s just kind of a pointless question to ask because nobody …

A break has been made in a cold case murder that has been hanging over Tewksbury for 41 years.  The Middlesex District Attorney's Office announced this morning the arrests Edward Alan Brown, 59, of Londonberry, NH, Walter Shelley, 60, of Tewksbury, and Michael Ferreira, 57, of Salem, NH.  Brown and Shelley were arraigned in Lowell District Court before Judge Harvey Friday morning. Shelley was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail. Brown was released on personal recognizance.  Their next court date is May 26 for a pre-trial conference. Ferreira was arraigned in Exeter District Court in New …