Commonwealth v. Leahy

Paul J. Leahy was convicted of the brutal stabbing *482and murder of Alexandra Zapp.1 The crime occurred shortly after 4 a.m. on July 18, 2002, in the women’s bathroom of a rest area along Route 24 in Bridgewater. Leahy was arrested at the scene and later confessed. Media coverage of the crime was extensive. Some of that coverage focused on Leahy’s criminal history, which was also extensive.

In his appeal Leahy contends that (1) his confession should have been suppressed because neither it nor the waiver of his Miranda rights was voluntary, police questioning was improperly reinstated after he had…