Charles Jaynes’ first parole hearing set to happen on Tuesday

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The 1997 abduction and murder of 10-year-old Jeff Curley is, by far, one of the most difficult cases I have ever covered.

On October 1, 1997, two men lured Jeff off the streets of his Cambridge neighborhood and into a car, with the promise of a new bicycle. Behind the wheel was Sal Sicari. In the backseat, Charles Jaynes.

In 1998, Jaynes was convicted of using a rag to suffocate Jeff in the car when the boy refused Jayne’s demand for sex. Testimony revealed Jeff’s body was next taken to an apartment in Manchester, New Hampshire, where it was defiled. Days later, Jeff’s body was found on the bottom of a river in Maine, inside a Rubbermaid container.

Sicari and Jaynes were both convicted in separate trials. Sicari is serving a sentence of life with no parole for his first-degree murder conviction.

But Jaynes, the alleged mastermind of the plot, was found guilty of second-degree murder and now, after 21 years in prison, will have his first parole hearing on Tuesday.

Jeff’s father, Bob Curley, will attend and argue against Jayne’s release. “They don’t know the half of it with Charles Jaynes,” Curley said. “He’s evil. He’s as bad and dangerous as they come. The thought of him ever walking the streets should terrify people.”

COVID-19 protocols will govern the Charles Jaynes parole hearing. Unlike other parole hearings, Jaynes himself will not attend, but he will appear over a video feed from an off location holding cell. Bob Curley and his family will watch the hearing from a conference room and then they will testify in front of the parole board when they are called.

For the media, there will be no camera in the hearing room, but we will be able to listen to the proceedings over a phone line and record them. In every single parole hearing I have ever covered, the inmate is asked to take responsibility for the crime and to apologize to the victim’s family. It is likely Jaynes will be no exception.

I asked Bob Curley what his reaction might be to an apology from Charles Jaynes.

“Closure and forgiveness,” said Curley. “Both words sound great, but to me they are just words. There’s no closure. As far as forgiveness goes, I couldn’t forgive him no matter what he said. There is just no way.”

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