Dec. 2, 2014
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tim Connolly (508) 368-7236 or Paul Jarvey (508) 368-7241
WORCESTER — Christopher R. Fletcher, 53, pleaded guilty today in Worcester Superior Court to murdering a Fitchburg woman in 1986, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.
Mr. Fletcher, who is already serving a life sentence without parole in the 1995 murder of a Lunenburg woman and who is facing a trial in March for the killing of a fellow inmate at MCI-Norfolk, pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder in the death of Peggy Sue Calvillo, 24, on Dec. 6, 1986.
Judge James Lemire imposed the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
DNA evidence tested in 1995 first excluded Mr. Fletcher of the killing, but the evidence
was re-submitted for new testing in 2011 as forensic science has advanced, and this time Mr. Fletcher’s DNA was found to be a match to genetic material found on Ms. Calvillo’s body.
“Never underestimate the importance of these unresolved cases to the families of the victims who have suffered a tragic loss,” Mr. Early said. “Great detective work and prosecution efforts combined to give the family some closure from this nightmare.”
After being arrested for Elizabeth Salsbury’s murder in 1995, Mr. Fletcher told investigators that he accidentally hit Mrs. Calvillo with his car as she walked along Route 12 in Sterling after she got out of work. He said he then put her in his vehicle and drove to a secluded area where he assaulted her and left her to die.
Her body was found under power lines on Old Turnpike Road in Lancaster the next day.
Mr. Early praised investigators from the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the District Attorney’s office as well as Fitchburg, Sterling, Lancaster, Leominster and Worcester police for their relentless work on the case.