Coker Found Guilty of 1988 West Roxbury Murder

A man accused of murdering a 20-year-old West Roxbury woman in 1988 was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday.

Michael Coker, 50, formerly of Hyde Park and now of West Roxbury, was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Janet Phinney following jurors’ second full day of deliberations, according to a release from the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

He was sentenced to life in prison—the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder—with the possibility of parole after 15 years, according to Conley's office.

Coker was accused of strangling to death Phinney, his ex-girlfriend, in March 1988. Family members last saw Phinney at her Cedar Road home on March 18, 1988, according to the DA's office. A neighbor discovered her remains on March 21, 1988 in a wooded area behind her home.

For more than two decades the case remained unsolved until new forensic technology helped detectives connect Phinney to the crime through DNA that was recovered from Phinney's remains, according to the DA's office.

During the trial, witnesses stated that they had seen a man resembling Coker pacing in the area, "asking to use the phone at a local business, and arguing with Phinney shortly before she was last seen," according to Conley's office. Coker also left several angry messages on the family's answering machine around the same time, testimony showed.

“From beyond the grave, Janet Phinney gave investigators the evidence we needed to solve her murder and gave jurors what they needed to convict him,” Conley said in a statement. “A quarter century after her life was taken in an act of domestic violence, her killer was held to account. I hope her family can take some solace in knowing that justice has been done at long last.”

Before Coker was sentenced, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke heard statements from Phinney’s brother, Robert Phinney, about the impact of her violent death.

“Janet was the baby girl in the family of seven kids,” he said. “She was vivacious and her personality was extraordinary. Each of us hold our own special memory of Janet [but] there are 12 nieces and nephews who will never have the privilege of their own memories of their aunt. [...] She will never have the chance to have her own family and share in ours. She has missed 24 Christmases, 24 Easters, 24 Thanksgivings and 591 family birthdays to this date. A piece of us all died that day and we will never be the same.”