Haverhill Man Convicted In Homicide Of Building Inspector: DA

HAVERHILL, CT — A Haverhill man was convicted of bludgeoning an 82-year-old man to death, according to a statement from Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.

Leedell Graham was found guilty of first-degree murder with extreme atrocity or cruelty and breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny over $1,200. He is scheduled for sentencing Friday in Salem Superior Court.

Graham was accused of the homicide of Patsy "Pat" Schena at his home on Governor's Road in Groveland.

The prosecution claimed that Graham entered Schena's home with the intent to burglarize it June 21, 2019. When Schena returned home, Graham bludgeoned Schena to death with a lamp and stabbed him with a knife, according to the statement.

Graham was arrested in June 2019.

The prosecution "presented an array of video evidence documenting that Graham was around Schena’s home at the time of the murder as well as DNA evidence implicating Graham," according to the statement.

Schena was a former building inspector in Groveland whose carpentry and construction work built many homes in Massachusetts and who served six years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

“While no one can undo this horrific murder, we hope that the verdict in this case brings Mr. Schena’s family some small measure of peace in the knowledge that justice has been served,” Tucker said in a statement.