Civilly-Committed Sex Offender to be Arraigned in 1988 Murder
DA Rollins’ unsolved homicide unit gets indictment in 33-year-old case
BOSTON, Sept. 6, 2021 — Following the extensive efforts of District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ Project for Unsolved Suffolk Homicides (PUSH) program, a grand jury returned an indictment against the man believed to have killed Judy Chamberlain in 1988, DA Rollins announced today.
RICHARD VEGA, a.k.a CARL VEGA a.k.a. RICARDO VEGA a.k.a RICARDO MAZZERINO, 59, a convicted sex offender currently committed under Massachusetts’ sexually dangerous person statute, is charged with murder in Ms. Chamberlain’s 1988 homicide inside the former Fargo Building in what is now the Seaport. He is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court later this month.
Ms. Chamberlain was found strangled in the basement of 451 D Street on July 28, 1988. Biological evidence collected from the victim’s body indicates that she was sexually assaulted by her killer. A DNA sample collected during the initial investigation was submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS), which compares samples from unknown assailants with the DNA profiles of known offenders.
Suffolk prosecutors and detectives assigned to the Boston Police Department’s Homicide Unit identified Mr. Vega as a suspect in 2011, when the CODIS database matched the suspected killer’s DNA to Mr. Vega’s DNA profile. Mr. Vega was required to submit a DNA sample as a result of his 1990 conviction on three counts of rape in connection with a 1987 attack on an elderly woman in Revere. Mr. Vega was sentenced to a term of 19½ to 20 years in state prison for those offenses. As his release from incarceration neared, Suffolk prosecutors petitioned to have Mr. Vega civilly committed under the state’s SDP statute. A jury found him sexually dangerous in 2008 and he remains civilly committed.
Despite the 2011 CODIS hit, Suffolk prosecutors at the time did not believe that they had sufficient evidence to meet their burden of proving Mr. Vega’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The investigation continued, but the case remained unsolved.
“Our family has waited 33 years for someone to be arrested for the brutal death of our sister Judy,’’ said Judy’s brother. “We thank all of those involved in his capture. Our sister can now lay in peace and our family has closure. We love and miss you Judy.”
Judy’s sister said, “I would like to thank the Boston Police Department for finally finding the guy who took my sister’s life. He took our sister, my mother’s daughter, and took Kevin and Carly’s Aunt away from us.”
After taking the oath of office on January 2, 2019, District Attorney Rollins fulfilled a campaign promise to redirect her office’s limited resources into finding answers in Suffolk County’s unsolved homicides through a program she created called PUSH (Project for Unsolved Suffolk Homicides). With PUSH, DA Rollins invested additional resources and dedicated staff time to the review of the 1300 unsolved homicide case files from across Suffolk County dating back to the 1960s. The investigation into Ms. Chamberlain’s murder was renewed and expedited under the Rollins administration.
The re-examination into Ms. Chamberlain’s homicide was successful in collecting the additional evidence necessary to present the case to a Suffolk County grand jury. That grand jury returned an indictment August 30, 2021, charging Mr. Vega with her murder.
“Criminal investigations, especially homicides, are uniquely challenging. The passage of time only creates greater difficulty for investigators and prosecutors – memories may become blurry, witnesses may have died, or cannot be located – but the urgency to hold violent offenders and murderers accountable never diminishes. Ever. Our commitment to these cases and the families of individuals whose lives were stolen by an act of violence does not fade with time,” District Attorney Rollins said. “Ms. Chamberlain’s family has been waiting 33 years for answers. We were finally able to offer those answers some three decades later. Ms. Chamberlain’s life mattered. And we will seek a lifetime of accountability for her brutal murder and callous disposal. Her family and loved ones never stopped loving and missing her and we never stopped searching for answers. It has been a long road. We are so grateful for the excellent police and investigative work that got us to this moment.”
Mr. Vega is now the third individual indicted and charged in connection with a significantly older unsolved murder since District Attorney Rollins took office. Suffolk prosecutors under DA Rollins and her PUSH initiative have previously secured murder indictments against William Sanchez in the fatal 1995 shooting of Jorge Medina and against Steven Fike in the 1980 rape and murder of Wendy Dansereau. These three indicted cases are over 20, 30 and 40 years old. And there are more to come.
Through PUSH, District Attorney Rollins enlisted staff from all disciplines within her office to conduct internal, administrative reviews of the Office’s unsolved homicide cases. This project assigns both legal and non-legal staff, including administrative assistants, paralegals, executive staff, victim witness advocates and civilian investigators, to: conduct a preliminary administrative review of the case file; uniformly inventory each file; summarize its content and evidence; identify sources and leads; and conduct an internet search regarding the homicide to capture any articles or other potentially useful information. Next, the PUSH Assessment Committee, which includes several seasoned homicide prosecutors, examines the findings of each administrative review to determine if the investigative process continues by either: assigning legal staff within the office to continue the investigation; or making recommendations to the Boston Police Department or Massachusetts State Police Homicide Units.
In addition to the administrative review process that placed fresh eyes on seven decades of unsolved homicide cases, the realignment of the office’s priorities under District Attorney Rollins’ leadership increased resources and dedicated staff to prioritizing PUSH and its vitally important work. “We will never stop searching for someone that has taken a life. There is no statute of limitation on murder. And we will never give up.”
Assistant District Attorney John Verner of District Attorney Rollins’ Homicide Unit led the grand jury proceedings resulting in the indictment against Mr. Vega. Jillian Rose is the assigned victim witness advocate. Det Kevin Pumphret, Sgt. Michael Devane, and Det. Jamie Sheehan are the exceptional police investigators in the case. Mr. Vega is represented by attorney Timothy Bradl.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles some 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
