Man convicted, sentenced to life in prison 40 years after murdering Kingston teen

A man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after being found guilty of killing a Kingston teen in 1986, prosecutors said.

Michael Hand, 69, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. press release. Hand was charged in connection with the murder of Tracy Gilpin, 15, in a case that had gone cold for more than 30 years.

Gilpin was reported missing by her family on Oct. 2, 1986, and her body was found 20 days later at Myles Standish State Park in Plymouth, according to prosecutors. She died as a result of a major skull fracture, and her death was ruled a homicide.

The case lay dormant for more than 32 years, but detectives from Plymouth, Kingston, and Massachusetts State Police continued the investigation and eventually determined that Hand was a potential witness. In March 2018, state police traveled to Troutman, North Carolina, where Hand was living at the time, to interview him, the prosecutor’s office said.

During multiple interviews conducted over several days, Hand made statements that “could be construed as admissions to the crime,” prosecutors said. He told investigators he was living in Kingston at the time, knew Gilpin, and had a meeting at his home the night she was last seen.

Hand’s statements placed him at the crime scene, and he claimed he picked up a 73-pound rock, which he recognized to investigators in evidence photos, and dropped it on Gilpin, according to the district attorney’s office. He was arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping and assault on a child.

Court filings show that the kidnapping, assault and rape charges were dismissed in June 2019 because the statute of limitations for those charges had expired.

Gilpin was the sister of former State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin, who held that position at the time of Hand’s arrest.

“The Gilpin family has made it their mission to make sure justice is served on Tracy’s behalf,” Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said in the statement. “They never gave up hope in this endeavor, and today we got that justice.”

Paul Lonardo Roy, one of Hand’s attorneys, declined to comment Tuesday night. Craig Tavares, another attorney representing Hand, could not immediately be reached for comment.