The Fall River “Cult” Murders | Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa, & Karen Marsden
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October 13, 1979: 17-year-old Doreen Levesques’s body was found under the bleachers outside a Fall River High School.
Doreen Levesque
November 7, 1979: 19-year-old Barbara Raposa went missing.
January 27, 1980: Barbara Raposa’s body was found in the woods behind an old print shop in Fall River.
Source: The Boston Globe, 29 Jan 1980, p. 38.
February 7, 1980: 42-year-old Andy Maltais was arrested and charged with Barbara’s murder. The two had previously been in some type of romantic relationship and it’s believed Andy was the father of Barbara’s baby.
February 8, 1980: Karen Marsden disappeared.
April 13, 1980: Karen’s skull was found outside of Fall River and was identified using previous X-rays of her sinuses. The rest of her body was not recovered.
Karen Marsden
May 1980: Charges for the murder of Karen Marsden were filed against 25-year-old Carl Drew, 24-year-old Carl Davis, and 17-year-old Robin Murphy. Carl Drew would also later be charged for the murder of Doreen Levesque under the theory that he killed Karen to keep her quiet about Doreen’s murder.
January of 1981: Robin Murphy took a plea deal. She would have a chance at parole in exchange for her testimony against her co-defendants. That same month, she testified against Andy Maltais for the murder of Barbara Raposa after claiming she had witnessed it. Andy was found guilty.
March 13, 1981: Carl Drew was found guilty in the murder of Karen Marsden based largely on the testimony of Robin Murphy. He was sentenced to life in prison.
November 8, 1983: All remaining charges against defendants for the murders of Doreen Leveseque and Karen Marsden were dropped after Robin Murphy’s attorney let prosecutors know that her testimony will no longer help them.
1988: Andy Maltais died behind bars.
May 2004: Robin Murphy was granted parole and released to a halfway house.
November 2004: At a hearing asking for a new trial, multiple witnesses against Carl Drew recanted their previous testimony. However, a judge still denied his motion.
2011: Robin Murphy was sent back to prison.
May 2021: The Fall River docuseries proposed an alternative theory of the crime, one which would mean Carl Drew and Robin Murphy were in prison for a crime they didn’t commit.
March 2024: Robin Murphy was paroled again and has recanted her statements in regards to witnessing the murders of Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa, and Karen Marsden. Carl Drew remains incarcerated.
Sources: 2025 Crimelines Sources List