Steven Foley Gets Life For 2017 Cynthia Webb Murder In Worcester

WORCESTER, MA — A former Northborough resident convicted of murder in the 2017 killing of Cynthia Webb will spend the rest of his life in prison, a superior court judge ruled on Tuesday.

Webb, 59, was found in a burning car inside Hope Cemetery in Worcester in December 2017. Worcester detectives arrested Stephen Foley at a motel in Peabody days later after surveillance video showed he and Webb together at a Webster gentleman's club, Mario's Showplace. Investigators also found blood that matched Webb's DNA in Foley's home.

Webb, a Sterling resident and dancer at Mario's, died by homicidal violence of unknown etiology, an autopsy found.

In court Tuesday, Webb's son and daughter-in-law spoke fondly of her, describing a person who was eminently loving and supportive — and who will never get to see her grandchild grow up.

"It's crushing to know that my mother fought so hard and endured so much, just to have her life brutally taken away. The impact my mom, Cindy Webb, had on the world will continue. Anybody who knew my mom loved her. She was a funny, quick-witted, caring, nonjudgmental person and most of all, she was a fighter," Webb's son, Brad, told the court in a victim's statement Tuesday.

Foley, 62, was a registered sex offender after committing a child rape in Essex County in the 1970s, and another rape in Salem in 1985, according to reports. A jury last week found Foley guilty of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility in 25 years. He was also convicted of malicious damage to a motor vehicle, and was sentenced to 12 to 15 years for that offense.

"We can only hope Cynthia’s family and loved ones find some closure through this
verdict," Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said Tuesday.