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Deanne Murray, mother of Patric McCarthy. Photo courtesy Deanne Murray
By Casey Sherman |
PUBLISHED: October 20, 2019 at 3:23 p.m. | UPDATED: October 21, 2019 at 6:11 a.m.
Is it a case of murder or was it a tragic accident?
The mother of a 10-year-old boy found dead in the New Hampshire woods more than a decade ago is writing a new book that she hopes will compel authorities to re-examine the high-profile case.
Patric McCarthy, a 4th-grade student from Bourne, went missing during a family vacation at Loon Mountain on Columbus Day weekend in 2003. His body was found days later after an exhaustive search 2 miles away from the trail where he was last seen.
The medical examiner ruled that Patric died of hypothermia, but his mother Deanne Murray claims her son was beaten and then killed and she claims that she now has the evidence to prove it.
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Murray is now finishing a 300-page book about the case, which she plans to publish next year.
“I want people to read it and see what we’ve known for all these years, that my son was murdered and that his killer is still out there,” Murray tells me in an exclusive interview from her home in Florida.
The mother shared with me the autopsy report along with the photos of Patric’s tiny, battered body after he was found lying face down with his legs extended and his toes pointed backward and arms folded under his chest.
They are shocking images that I will never be able to shake from my mind, and Deanne Murray doesn’t want me to.
“In most cases of hypothermia, the victims are found curled up in a ball to fight off the cold, but that wasn’t the case with my son,” Murray says. “I believe Patric’s body was dragged to that position.”
The boy also suffered deep scratches and bruises to the back of his neck that are not mentioned in the autopsy report. He was also missing his hat, socks and coat. None of the items were ever found.
I reached out to the New Hampshire Attorney General and was told that the office had led an exhaustive multiagency review of Patric’s death and found no basis to re-open the case. But Deanne Murray won’t back down. She hopes the book will help her mobilize an army of supporters to fight for her son.
“The court of public opinion matters,” she says. “Authorities in New Hampshire will re-open the case if enough people demand it.”
This strategy has worked before.
A book about the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley led Connecticut authorities to bring criminal charges against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel.
His murder conviction was later reversed because of an incompetent defense and he walks free today.
Deanne Murray believes that Patric’s killer is also walking free.
“My son would be 26 years old today,” she says. “He could be married with a child of his own. But his life ended at 10 and I want the world to know why.”
Casey Sherman is a New York Times bestselling author of 11 books including the upcoming “Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture & Killing of America’s Most Wanted Crime Boss.” Follow him on Twitter @caseysherman123
