Suspect In Peabody Murders Heading To Prison

PEABODY, MA — One of the two men arrested for the deaths of a Peabody couple earlier this year admitted to his role in the killings and is headed to prison.

Michael Hebb, 45, of Peabody, admitted Wednesday in Salem Superior Court that he helped cover up Jennifer O'Connor's murder and tried to destroy evidence via arson. Prosecutors dropped the count of accessory after the fact of the murder her boyfriend Mark Greenlaw, saying he could still be charged with Greenlaw's murder.

Hebb was sentenced to up to seven years in prison. He was initially charged with murder, but those charges were dropped in May.

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It was called one of the most horrific murder scenes veteran Peabody police officers had ever seen.

On Feb. 17, police found the bodies of Greenlaw, 37, and O'Connor, 40, wrapped in plastic and rolled into rugs laying in the garbage-filled basement of a now condemned crack house at 19 Farm Ave.

Prosecutors said Greenlaw was killed by a shotgun blast to the face, while O'Connor was raped and her throat was slit.

The two suspects – Wes Doughty, 39, and Hebb – fled the scene, prosecutor Kate MacDougall said in court in May. Before they left, they allegedly tried to burn the house and evidence.

MacDougall said Hebb got Doughty all "revved" with unsubstantiated allegations that Greenlaw was abusing, drugging or poisoning Doughty's physically disabled "uncle," who lived in the house.

"Hebb told Doughty that Greenlaw was abusing...Doughty's uncle," MacDougall said in May.

Greenlaw was also viewed as an intruder into Hebb and Doughty's drug dealing, MacDougall said.

Patch file photo. Reporting from Lisa Redmond was used in this report