Nearly 40 years after he stabbed his ex-girlfriend 17 times and blew up a propane tank when authorities found him with her body, a 62-year-old man has been denied parole by the state parole board.
Robert Grady was convicted for the death of Donna Cavanaugh, 25, in December of 1990 and sentenced to life in prison. He was denied parole on Thursday, and has previously been denied parole in 2021, 2016, 2010 and initially in 2004.
Grady, also 25 at the time, killed Cavanaugh on Dec. 4, 1988 after she ended their 10-month relationship. Despite the breakup, they’d spent the previous night together at a friend’s house party and left early that morning.
Later that day, Grady called his father and said Cavanaugh was dead.
Grady’s father called police, who found Grady’s car abandoned and bloodstained. Officers then went to a New Hampshire summer home owned by Grady’s father, where they found Grady in a bedroom with Cavanaugh’s body.
Grady lit a propane tank on fire and caused an explosion after he was discovered by the authorities. He was taken to the hospital with burns and placed into custody.
An autopsy of Cavanaugh’s body revealed the 25-year-old woman was beaten and stabbed to death with a knife, and was bitten on the genitalia after she died. Grady lied to authorities at first and said the knife belonged to Cavanaugh, and that he’d acted in self-defense after she tried to stab him.
However, Grady admitted to owning the knife in 2009. He also said he’d killed and violated Cavanaugh because he had “issues with power and control,” and said he grew up believing violence was how to gain respect and get what he wanted.
Grady said he wanted people to see Cavanaugh as a “beautiful woman by my side,” and felt “rejected” and “abandoned” when she ended their relationship.
Parole board members in previous hearings said Grady is a manipulative person, and has continued to manipulate many people throughout his incarceration — including women he contacts from prison, with whom he builds romantic relationships and becomes “intimately involved” in their lives.
Grady’s son and four friends testified in support of his parole on Thursday, and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office testified in opposition.
In a unanimous decision, the parole board ruled that given Grady’s history of sexual violence and continued manipulative behavior, his release from prison is “not compatible with the welfare of society.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
