Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin today announced that Michael Ducharme (DOB: 11/19/66), with a last known address of 235 Mount Pleasant View Avenue, Burrillville, pleaded guilty to the 2007 murder of 33-year-old Vicki Connolly, of Woonsocket. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Superior Court Justice Netti C. Vogel sentenced Ducharme to 60 years, with 40 years to serve and the remainder suspended with probation.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ducharme brutally murdered Vicki Connolly in September, 2007.
Vicki Connolly was reported missing after she was last seen on September 5, 2007. Two months later, hunters found her badly decomposed body in the Black Hut Management Area in Burrillville. The autopsy report found that she had been stabbed in the head and torso repeatedly, ruling her cause of death "homicidal violence with multiple sharp and blunt force injuries." A synthetic cord was also found wrapped around her neck.
Police had no leads until Ducharme, who was serving a sentence for larceny and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, intimated to police that he had information about the murder, in hopes of being released from prison in exchange for the information.
"This case was solved through the tremendous effort of Detective Sergeant Guy Riendeau of the Burrillville Police Department, who gained the confidence and trust of Michael Ducharme into sharing details of the crime that no one else could know," said Attorney General Kilmartin. "I applaud his commitment to making sure this case was solved, hopefully bringing a measure of closure to Vicki's family."
Throughout several interviews with Burrillville Police Detective Sergeant Guy Riendeau, Ducharme shared details of the crime scene that only the perpetrator would know. After ruling out multiple fake leads and suspects presented by Ducharme, police determined that Ducharme committed the murder. He was indicted by a grand jury on July 22, 2009, and charged with one count of murder.
Burrillville Police Detective Sergeant Guy Riendeau led the investigation and Assistant Attorney General Scott Erickson prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.