In 1995, a teenage girl was walking home with her boyfriend. She was never seen alive again. Deanna Cremin was found the following day – barely 500 feet from where her boyfriend had parted ways with her the night before.
Deanna Cremin was born on March 26th, 1978. Her family, which consisted of mother Katherine, father Michael, and siblings Christine, Albert, and Mark, lived in Somerville, Massachusetts, a town just outside of Boston.
Deanna was a student at Somerville High School in March of 1995. She also volunteered at Somerville Cable Access Television, and held a part time job at Star Market. Deanna was also passionate about her work with the work with her school’s Child Development Program, where she worked with third graders. Though she was undecided about her college and career aspirations, it was believed that she was leaning towards going to school for early childhood education.
Deanna was described as fun, personable, and outgoing. She had a ‘magnetic personality’ that drew people to her, and a wonderful smile that lit up the room.
On March 26th, Deanna celebrated her 17th birthday. A few days later, on Wednesday, March 29th, Deanna decided to take the bus into Boston to go shopping, and spend her birthday money. She met up her mom, who worked in Boston. The two decided to ride home together. Reaching Somerville, Deanna told her mom she loved her, and she’d see her later. She was on her way to her boyfriend, Tommy LeBlanc’s house.
A little later in the evening, Deanna called Katherine and let her know that she would be a little bit late for her 10:00 PM curfew. They were watching a television show, and she didn’t want to leave before the end. She reassured her mom that she’d leave as soon as the show ended. They both said “I love you”, and ended the call. This was the last time that Katherine spoke to her daughter.
Katherine dozed off on the couch, waiting up for Deanna. Around midnight, Deanna still wasn’t home. Katherine tried her on her pager, but couldn’t get through. At the time, Katherine wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t uncommon for Deanna to fall asleep at Tommy’s. Katherine went to bed, figuring that Deanna would be back in the morning to get ready for school.
The next morning, Deanna still wasn’t home. Katherine figured that Deanna may have just gone off to school from Tommy’s house. There had been previous occasions where Deanna had spent the night, either at Tommy’s, or at another friend’s house, where she went straight to school from there the following morning.
As Katherine herself had to get going, she asked Michael to call the school to make sure that Deanna got there okay. Then, she left to catch the train for work.
Later that morning, Michael called the school looking for Deanna. Michael grew extremely concerned when he was told that Deanna wasn’t there. Before he could do anything else, there was a knock at the door.
Michael then called Katherine at work, and told her she needed to come home. When Katherine questioned why she needed to get home as soon as possible, all Michael could reply was: “You know why”.
At around 8:00 AM on Thursday, March 30th, 1995, Deanna Cremin’s body was found behind a senior housing complex, less then a block away from her house. She was found by two children who were using the alley behind the senior housing complex as a shortcut to get to school. Deanna was their favourite babysitter.
She was found lying on her back. She was partially undressed. There were signs that she’d been strangled, and sexually assaulted. But it also looked like she’d put up a fight.
As police began their investigation, it became known that Tommy, Deanna’s boyfriend, was the last person to see her alive. He told police that he walked Deanna halfway home, and they parted ways. Katherine indicated that this was highly unusual. Tommy always walked Deanna all the way home, then called her the moment he himself got home. Not only did Tommy not walk Deanna all the way home, he never called the house that night, either.
When questioned, Tommy stated that he’d ordered food when the television show that he and Deanna were watching ended. He only walked Deanna half way so that he wouldn’t miss the delivery driver with his food order. He was also able to produce a receipt for the order.
Police were still suspicious of Tommy, especially when they noticed that he had scratches on his arms and cheek. Deanna’s friends also didn’t speak very highly of Tommy. They found him aloof, and quiet, the opposite of Deanna’ boisterous personality. Tommy seemed to keep more to himself, while Deanna liked to make friends everywhere she went. Tommy wasn’t too fond of that.
Katherine later found letters that Tommy had written to Deanna. The letters seemed to indicate that Tommy had an unhealthy obsession with Deanna. Almost as if he wanted to control her; possess her. Though all highly suspicious, without physical evidence, it simply wasn’t enough to detain him. Besides, Tommy was by far not the only suspect in Deanna’s murder.
An unidentified man was named as a person of interest in Deanna’s murder. He was seen around the area, but has never been identified, though police did release a composite sketch to the public. The man was described as between 5’9”, and 5’11”, and between 160 to 170 lbs.
Most interestingly, though, was the tip that another man was described as a person of interest. The man was a Somerville firefighter. He was more than twice Deanna’s age, but, according to her friends, he’d taken a liking to her. It was also rumoured that this man, who has never been named, had family ties to Somerville city politics. These rumours have never been corroborated.
Another person of interest was a man who was later imprisoned for an unrelated charge. The name of this man has also never been released.
During the first month of the investigation, over 100 people were interviewed by police, and Deanna’s belongings were searched thoroughly for clues. In short, they found nothing.
During the course of the investigation, Tommy became uncooperative. He refused to take a polygraph test (which is fair, considering how subjective they are, and how faulty they can be. He also pleaded the fifth amendment when called upon to testify during a grand jury trial. In the end, the grand jury ultimately did not indict him, or anyone else, for the murder of Deanna Cremin.
Two months following Deanna’s murder, Susan LeBlanc, Tommy’s mother, took our a restraining order on her son. Tommy had started having violent mood swings, and was extremely verbally abusive towards Susan. Susan hoped that filing the order would force Tommy into seeking counseling. Deanna’s death had affected him greatly, and Susan hoped that therapy – even if forced on him – would help him grieve. Susan withdrew the restraining order, though it’s unclear if Tommy ever received the counselling or not.
Every year, the Cremin family puts up a billboard on the anniversary of Deanna’s murder. The billboard offers a reward for information about the murder. The billboard reads: “You know what you did to me. How much longer must I wait! Please help me make my time in heaven restful.”
Deanna was beloved to her community. Over a thousand people attended her funeral. Somerville High School also offered a $500 scholarship in Deanna’s name to a recipient enrolled in the Child Development Program. In the summer of 1995, the intersection at Jaques Street and Temple Street, in Deanna’s neighbourhood, was named Deanna Cremin Square.
Over the years, Middlesex County saw various district attorneys make promises about the case. In 2005, it was announced that forensic evidence was being tested using techniques that weren’t available in 1995. It was the first the Cremin family had heard of there being any forensic evidence at all.
Time and again, the Cremin family have had their hopes risen, only for them to be dashed when no progress is made on the case. As of 2015, the reward for information in regards to the case has risen to $70,000.
If you have any information about the Deanna Cremin murder case, please call the Somerville Police Department at 617-625-1600, or the confidential tip line at 617-544-7167.
[Edit: A detail-oriented Twitter reader brought to my attention that Somerville is not 60 miles from Boston, as I initially wrote – I have edited the paragraph to reflect this to state that it’s actually right outside of Boston.]
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Sources:
The Unsolved Murder of Deanna Cremin – The True Crime Files
Close to Home: The Murder of Deanna Cremin – Jenn Baxter – Medium
Boston Confidential – Beantown’s True Crime Podcast – Deanna Cremin
The Trail Went Cold podcast – Episode 136 – Deanna Cremin & Melanie Melanson
Murder of Deanna Cremin Wikipedia page