GREENFIELD — A judge is reviewing two testimony-related motions in the new case against a former Greenfield man who was released from prison in April 2024 following an overturned murder conviction, with the next court hearing slated for early January.
The state Supreme Judicial Court ordered a new trial for Elvio J. Marrero, who was serving a life sentence for the 1994 murder of Pernell R. Kimplin. This is due to DNA evidence obtained in 2017 or 2018 that removed a key piece of evidence prosecutors had used to convict Marrero in 1995. He posted $5,000 bail in Franklin County Superior Court a year and a half ago, and a new trial is planned for June.
The 63-year-old appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon with defense attorneys Steven Van Dyke and Michael S. Hussey for an evidentiary motion hearing in front of Judge David Hodge. Marrero’s lawyers and Assistant District Attorneys Steven Gagne and Cynthia Von Flatern had no objection to the use of prior testimony from witnesses who have since died, but Hodge has taken under advisement two other testimony-related motions and said he will rule on them shortly.
Van Dyke mentioned that the state trooper who led the initial investigation has since been indicted on serious charges, and the state chemist on the case was found to have committed wrongdoing around the time of the murder and was later fired.
“Obviously, that causes significant concern,” Van Dyke told Hodge.
Regarding a new trial in June, Van Dyke advised that his client will be able to attend only on certain days because he undergoes dialysis on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A defendant has the right to be physically present at all critical stages of court proceedings. Hodge said he will talk with Judge Jane Mulqueen about which of them will preside over the trial.
Marrero, who was in court Tuesday with assistance from a Spanish language interpreter, got his freedom in April 2024 due to the efforts of the Boston College Innocence Program, which fought for years to get him a new trial. He had previously appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court in 1998, 2002 and 2011, but his conviction was upheld each time.
Kimplin was 26 at the time of his death and was last seen alive in his Greenfield apartment on the evening of Oct. 13, 1994. He was found dead in the apartment three days later. He had been gagged, and his hands and feet were tied with electrical cords and rope. He had been stabbed once in the chest and once in the back, and had been beaten on his head, neck, shoulders and back with a wooden board broken from a dresser drawer. The medical examiner found that the victim died on or about Oct. 14 as a result of the stab wounds.
Defense attorneys have long argued that Marrero was out of the country when the murder happened.