Chelsea Man Pleads Guilty to Murder

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announces that Clarence Earl Berry, 62, of Chelsea, pleaded guilty Thursday to the 2012 murder of Jessica Cormier, 20, of Everett.  Middlesex Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat immediately sentenced the defendant to life in prison.
 
“This defendant brutally stabbed Jessica Cormier outside of her home,” District Attorney Ryan said.  “With this plea, this defendant has admitted responsibly for his horrific crime that took the life of this young woman.  While Jessica’s family will always feel the pain of her loss, we hope that this verdict today provides them with some peace and comfort.” 
 
According to authorities, at approximately 6:44 pm on January 3, 2012 Everett Police responded to 83 Pearl Street. Upon arrival, officers located a female victim, identified as Jessica Cormier, evidencing obvious stab wounds.  She was transported to Mass General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
 
           The investigation by Everett Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office determined that Berry and the victim were known to each other.  Phone records established that the victim and the defendant were having a disagreement by phone at approximately 6:15 p.m.  Police later determined, the defendant was using his phone at a bar not far from the victim’s home. 
 
            At approximately  6:30 p.m. that evening, the victim left her home and was walking toward Main Street where she encountered the defendant.  Minutes later a family member heard screaming followed by a loud thud at the front door of their home.  That family member went downstairs to the apartment’s foyer and found the victim on the porch.
 
            Police executed a search warrant at Berry’s residence in Chelsea and evidence was recovered including a jacket, gloves and hat.  DNA testing conducted on the jacket determined the bloodstains in the coat pockets were a mixture of DNA profiles that matched the victim and the defendant.   The defendant was arrested outside his residence in Chelsea at on January 6, 2012. 
 
            The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis and Michael Kaneb.  The Victim Witness Advocate was Danielle DeMeo.  The paralegal was Greg LaJoie.