Report: Tewksbury Man Convicted Of 1969 Slaying Of Teen

A 61-year-old Tewksbury man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1969 slaying of a 15-year-old boy.

Walter Shelley was convicted Friday in Middlesex Superior Court of the death of John McCabe, of Tewksbury, whose body was found in Lowell.

The Sun reports that Shelley was convicted by a jury after a weeklong trial.

Prosecutors say Shelley was one of three men, all teenagers at the time, who kidnapped, beat and then bound McCabe in September 1969 after a dance. He died of asphyxiation.

Prosecutors say they wanted to teach McCabe a lesson for flirting with Shelley's girlfriend.

Shelley denied the charge.

One of the other men was acquitted of murder, while the second pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for no jail time and cooperation with authorities.