Londonderry Witness Could Take Stand Today in Ferreira Murder Trial

The father of the victim and the lead investigator on the case 43 years ago took the stand Wednesday in Woburn, Mass. District Court as testimony began in the murder trial of Michael Ferreira.

Ferreira, now of Salem, is one of three men charged in connection with the 1969 death of Tewksbury, Mass. teen Johnny McCabe. Along with Walter Shelley of Tewksbury and Edward Brown of Londonderry, Ferreira is accused of kidnapping McCabe off the street and taking him to a vacant lot in Lowell, Mass., where they allegedly tied him up and gagged him in such a way that it led to his death by asphyxiation.

William McCabe, 85, his voice cracking with emotion, testified about his son and the night he disappeared, according to WCVB-TV. He testified that he wasn't home when his son left for the dance that night and did not recall if Johnny was wearing a belt. The belt is one of the elements the defense intends to use to put forth an alternative theory of how the victim was killed and by whom.

Also testifying was retired Lowell Police Lt. Thomas Conlon, who led the original investigation into the murder. Conlon presented a somewhat surprising piece of testimony when he said McCabe had not been found hogtied with a rope connecting his ankles and neck, as investigators and prosecutors have said. Rather, he said there were three separate ropes on the victim's wrists, neck and ankles, according to the Lowell Sun.

Brown, the prosecution's star witness, could testify as early as today, according to WCVB-TV.