A New Hampshire man pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder in the strangling death of his former fiancée at her Massachusetts home in 2018, prosecutors announced.
Brian Chevalier, 54, received a mandatory life sentence without parole in Salem Superior Court, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office. He admitted to killing Wendi Rose Davidson, a 49-year-old who was found strangled to death in the basement of her home in North Andover on April 21, 2018, a day after her death.
“This was a cruel and senseless killing of an innocent woman,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement, adding that he hopes Chevalier's life sentence will give solace to Davidson's family and friends.
Davidson had broken up with Chevalier, who killed her with a USB cord wrapped around her neck at some point after 6 p.m. on April 20, prosecutors said. He dragged her body to the basement and stole her cellphone, purse and car keys.
Chevalier used her ATM card to withdraw money and rent a UHaul in New Hampshire, and her keys and phone were found in his car. He was arrested by authorities in Mexico several days after the murder.
North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray offered his department's condolences to Davidson's loved ones, calling the murder "shocking to this community and devastating to her family" in a statement.
