SALEM — A man arrested in connection with the February double homicide of an engaged couple in Peabody pleaded guilty to accessory and attempted arson charges in Salem Superior Court on Wednesday.
Michael Hebb, 45, was sentenced by Judge Timothy Feeley to no less than six years and no more than seven years in state prison, followed by five years probation after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact of the murder of Jennifer O’Connor, 40, and attempted arson of a dwelling. Hebb has 246 days credited to the imposed sentence.
Hebb admitted that he assisted in covering up and attempted to destroy the evidence of the killing of O’Connor, who was found dead with her fiancé, Mark Greenlaw, 37, in a Farm Avenue home on Feb. 19. The bodies had been wrapped in plastic and carpeting, and cans of kerosene were found in the house, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
The Commonwealth dismissed an accessory charge for the murder of Greenlaw because Hebb could still be charged with Greenlaw’s killing, prosecutors said.
Hebb’s accomplice, Wes Doughty, 40, is charged with two counts of murder, rape, attempted arson of a dwelling, armed carjacking, and kidnapping. His case is scheduled for a motions hearing on Nov. 7 in Salem Superior Court.
Shortly after Greenlaw and O’Connor’s arrival at the house, sometime likely late Friday, Feb. 17, Doughty shot Greenlaw once in the face with a shotgun, Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said. She said Hebb also at a minimum, witnessed Doughty repeatedly stab, slit the throat and rape O’Connor.
Margo Duarte, Greenlaw’s mother, said she thinks Hebb should have received a lot more time in prison for his role in her son’s murder.
“The sad thing is that he got away with murder and that’s why I took my son’s charges off the table,” Duarte said. “I’m going after him for murder. He was there. There’s no way Jennifer was brought in that room by a guy that turned around and picked up a girl that was screaming and he had a shotgun. Are you kidding me? I’ve had it. I’ve had it. The DA’s hands are tied and I’m done. I just hope everything that he gets coming to him, he gets.”
Duarte said Doughty is the type of person who takes orders, but that “Hebb is the mastermind here.
“I know Michael Hebb,” Duarte said. “I used to bring them dinner. There’s a lot more here than meets the eye. Let me tell you.
“They’re victimizing my child. They say that he was moving in there. He was not. He lived with me. And I have the vision of my son’s — my son had no head. They blew it off his shoulders.”
Jennifer’s parents, Edward and Carol O’Connor, fought back tears as MacDougall presented a summary of the facts of the case before sentencing on Wednesday. After the hearing, Edward O’Connor said he didn’t think the prison time Hebb was sentenced to was adequate for his crimes.
“She was a good person,” Edward O’Connor said of his daughter. “She was not a bad person. She wasn’t evil. She didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She loved everybody. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s plain and simple.”
Edward O’Connor previously told The Item that his daughter suffered from a lifetime of medical issues. When she was 5, she came down with leukemia and lost her hair from chemotherapy. When she was 15, she had a minor stroke from radiation.
At 30, she came down with a flesh-eating disease, which was life-threatening. She was put in an induced coma for six weeks and a team of doctors operated on her from her navel to the top of her thighs. He said his daughter’s painful menstrual cycles led her to look for pain relief, including oxycontin and other pain medication. He said painkillers, the sickness and the operation led her into a downward spiral of drug and alcohol addiction.
Edward said he wouldn’t say anything to Hebb if he had the chance to face him.
“We don’t have any hate in our hearts,” Carol O’Connor said.
“We’re too full of sorrow,” Edward added.
MacDougall said police became aware of the homicide after a hysterical woman, who turned out to be Hebb’s girlfriend, had fled 19 Farm Ave. and was brought by a Good Samaritan to the Danvers State Police Barracks, where she reported that she had witnessed a murder at the home.
She said the witness, Hebb’s girlfriend, woke up to a conversation between Hebb and Doughty, that Doughty wanted to kill Greenlaw because of harm he believed Greenlaw was doing to Hebb’s nominal uncle, David Moise, the main head of the house.
Ultimately, MacDougall said Doughty left the upstairs area, leaving Hebb and his girlfriend. Hebb then heard a long bang, which turned out to be the shotgun murder of Greenlaw, followed by a scream from O’Connor. She said Hebb went downstairs and witnessed Doughty rape and kill O’Connor.
She said Hebb then assisted in cleaning up the area of the murder. MacDougall said kerosene was found around the two bodies, along with a torch, leading the Commonwealth to believe that the intention was to burn the bodies.
Over the next 24 hours, people were in and out of the house primarily to buy crack cocaine, which was the main source of income for the home, a business run by Hebb on behalf of Moise, MacDougall said.
After Doughty and Hebb became aware that the witness fled and there was a police cruiser outside the home, the two men fled the home, MacDougall said.
“This is the most egregious form of accessory after the fact that one can imagine,” MacDougall said.
Ray Buso, Hebb’s defense attorney, said his client moved into 19 Farm Ave. to care for his nominal uncle, who has since died. He said Moise had been involved in a serious car accident three years prior to the incident and was disabled and unable to care for himself.
Buso said Greenlaw was at the home quite a bit prior to potentially moving in, and was set to take over the crack cocaine dealing business, and would also be responsible for the care of Moise. Hebb complained to several people, including Doughty, who had a close relationship with Moise, about the poor care his uncle was receiving, Buso said.
Buso said Hebb did not know Doughty was going to shoot Greenlaw, and his client could have intervened when he saw Doughty raping and killing O’Connor. But, he argued Hebb was under duress and believed that Doughty would have also killed his uncle and girlfriend if he hadn’t attempted to appease him.
“I know the government doesn’t believe this, but that’s what Mr. Hebb said … that he was caught between a rock and a hard place,” Buso said. “Given the tone and statements of the prosecutor, I think you should know there’s another version of this, and if this had gone to trial, it would have been a defense of duress.”
