PEABODY — Darrell Lavoie, 59, of Nashua, NH, appeared in Essex County Superior Court Monday for a bail hearing on charges of aggravated rape, rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and breaking and entering, the Office of Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker confirmed. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Nov. 12, 1991 in Peabody in which the victim, who had just returned from her morning job, was allegedly blindfolded and raped at knifepoint by an unidentified male assailant who had been lying in wait for her inside her home.
Representing the Commonwealth, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick told the court, “The victim has been looking over her shoulder for 34 years” without knowing “who brutally raped her in her own home.”
Earlier this year, members of the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Case Unit began reinvestigating the case and analyzing previously collected evidence.
Representing Lavoie at Monday’s bail hearing, attorney Patrick Hakes asked for a $7,500 bail. The Hon. Thomas Drechsler set bail at $100,000 and imposed conditions: that the defendant have no contact and stay away from the victim and witnesses in the case, and that Lavoie remain in Massachusetts.
Lavoie is due to return to court for a filing of motions hearing on Jan. 9, 2026.
All suspects and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
