Murder Trial May Wrap up on Monday
Jurors in the Michael Hand murder trial Thursday were shown a video of him being questioned by Massachusetts State Police.
Hand is accused of murdering 15-year-old Tracy Gilpin in Kingston in 1986. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The 2018 footage showed Hand giving his version of the moments leading up to Gilpin’s disappearance and death.
Police did not believe Hand’s claims and pointed out what they saw as inconsistencies.
Hand said he last saw Gilpin at a Cumberland Farms store a few days after she had attended a party in his house on October first.
This claim conflicts with other witness statements that said Tracy had been missing since that night.
Hand said he saw Gilpin leave in another man’s car at 11 p.m. and moments later his friend convinced him to follow them out of concern that something was wrong.
He said they followed the car to the Myles Standish Forest.
He described a man of around 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds who asked him to follow him into the forest to see a body.
Hand said he complied out of fear and the driver forced him to touch a nearby rock.
The man Hand was referring to was Henry Meinholz Junior who was later convicted for the murder of 13-year-old Melissa Benoit.
Police said Meinholz was much smaller at 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds.
Hand also described Tracy’s body as mostly buried, but police found her covered only by a few branches.
For six hours police accused Hand of playing a role in Tracy’s murder, saying they knew Meinholz wasn’t at the scene.
Hand repeatedly denied these accusations, saying he didn’t initially come to police out of fear he would be misidentified as Tracy’s killer.
Judge Katie Rayburn said a verdict could be reached as soon as Monday in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton.
**Christian Maitre wrote this story.**