Police & Fire

Conkey Due Back in Court July 5, On Trial for Decades-Old Dempsey Murder

Craig Conkey, the convicted murder accused in the previously unsolved 1992 killing of Lexington resident Kathleen Dempsey, is due back in court next month.

By Patrick Ball
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June 7, 2012

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Middlesex Superior Court is located in Woburn.

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Middlesex Superior Court is located in Woburn.

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Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone on Dec. 21 announced the indictment of Carl Conkey on first-degree murder in connection with the 1992 killing of Lexington resident Kathleen Dempsey.

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Kathleen Dempsey's mother and brothers were in Middlesex County Superior Court Monday morning to watch as Craig Conkey was arraigned on a charge of first degree murder in connection with the 1992 previously unsolved fatal stabbing of the 31-year-old Dempsey.

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A spokesperson for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office this week confirmed Craig Conkey, the man on trial for the 1992 murder of Lexington resident Kathleen Dempsey, is scheduled to be back in Middlesex Superior Court at 12 p.m. on Thursday, July 5.

At Conkey’s last appearance in court, on March 30, he insisted he was competent and informed enough to make a guilty plea, and signed an affidavit confessing to the crime. Previously, he had entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment in January.

Conkey is accused in the 1992 murder of Dempsey, 31, who authorities say was stabbed to death in her basement apartment on Lexington's Ridge Road. Already serving a life sentence for the second-degree murder of another Lexington woman, Mary Lou Sale, in 1994, Conkey was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury in December 2011 for the Dempsey murder.

Conkey was initially due back in court on April 13, at which time he was expected to enter a guilty plea, but that appearance was postponed. It’s unclear whether he will plead guilty on July 5.

When last we saw Conkey, at the March 30 status hearing, a Middlesex Superior Court judge and doctor declared him competent to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That determination came after an examination at the request of Conkey’s attorney, who was concerned over his client’s demeanor.

At the time, a doctor told the court that Conkey claimed he was hearing voices, but seemed to understand the court system. Speaking for himself, Conkey told the judge he felt a trial would be a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.

“I’ve been waiting for this a long time, to just come in and plead guilty,” Conkey told the judge, adding that he’s willing to waive rights in his defense. “There’s no need to investigate it. I’m guilty. I confessed. Everything I said in the statement to the police was true.”