Haunted by her mother's screams, as she was raped and murdered by a brutal stranger, a woman has spoken movingly about her agonising 12 year wait to see her killer jailed.
The killer entered the home in Bridgton, Maine where Sarah Perry, then 12, shared with her mum, Crystal Perry, 30, and is believed to have raped the single parent, before stabbing her more than 50 times, leaving her mutilated body on the kitchen floor – all as her terrified schoolgirl daughter cowered in the next room.
Despite their hard work, officers found no solid leads and all Sarah could do was try to move on with her life, but 12 years later she received a call to say police had found a DNA match.
A local Bridgton man, a mason called Michael K Hutchinson, who was just 19 at the time of Crystal's death, had been arrested for threatening someone and a DNA sample linked him to the horrific murder all those years earlier.
Finally, Sarah took to the stand at Cumberland County Court, giving an impassioned speech about her memories of that night and how it had affected her.
Despite pleading not guilty, Hutchinson was convicted and is now serving a life sentence.
Sarah Perry, 35, from Bridgton, Maine had an agonising 12 year wait to see the man who raped and murdered her mother brought to justice
Sarah with her mother Crystal who raised her daughter as a single parent
Recalling the day her mother died, Sarah said: 'I'd gone to bed, after enjoying an ordinary day with my mother and having dinner with her.
'I heard her screaming, 'No,' before hearing a kitchen drawer opening and the sound of knives clinking against each other.
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Share'At first, I wasn't alarmed. I thought my mum and her then-partner were arguing.
'But there was yelling and a loud, thudding noise and I knew something was very wrong.'
Michael Hutchinson is now serving a life sentence after being convicted with killing and sexually assaulting Crystal Perry, 30
When an eerie silence descended, Sarah summoned the courage to creep out into the kitchen, where she saw her mum's body.
She said: 'I called 911 to get the emergency services, but the phone lines weren't working,'
It was May 12, 1994, in Bridgton, Maine - the town where horror writer Stephen King – a native of the state – set his novel-turned Netflix series, 'The Mist.'
Fearing for her safety, Sarah ran outside and banged on neighbours' doors – but no one answered, so, her heart thumping, she kept running for a mile, before finding an open Italian café.
'All the way I was thinking, 'Mom might be okay, although I don't think I really believed it,' recalled Sarah. 'The police were called and she was dead. They did a really through investigation and, of course, I was the key witness.
Sarah (left) pictured with friends lives in New York where she works as a writer and says she hopes her mother would be proud of her
'For a long time, they were convinced I must have witnessed something and repressed it, but I hadn't. I'd stayed in my room.'
Moving to live with an aunt in Texas, Sarah was gutted when, despite their hard work, the police found no solid leads.
After that, she went to university in North Carolina.
Sarah, now 35, single and working as a writer and fact-checker, tried to put the horror of her mum's murder behind her, remembering how she was 'more like a sister' than a mother.
Crystal and her daughter Sarah were more like friends than mother and daughter
'Some people thought we were sisters,' she said.
'We would do things together. We'd go to the mall, out for dinner and to the movies.
'We were really close.'
She stayed angry with the man, who had murdered the mother she loved, but was determined to move on with her life.
'Of course, I was angry,' she said. 'The person that killed her had taken away her future and left me without her.
'But, I thought she'd be proud of me – for moving on and going to college.
'However, I didn't go home. It held too many bad memories. And the person who had killed her was still out there.' Then, in 2006 she received a call from a Maine number – sending her into panic mode.
'As I answered I was nervous,' she explained. 'Then the police said something I will never forget. 'There is a DNA match.' A local Bridgton man, a mason called Michael K Hutchinson, who was just 19 at the time of Crystal's death, had been arrested for threatening someone.
Sarah, 12, was hiding in her bedroom as her mother (pictured) was attacked
A DNA sample linked him to the horrific murder all those years earlier.
Finally, after waiting for 12 long years, Sarah would see justice done. In 2007, she took to the stand at Cumberland County Court, giving an impassioned speech about her memories of that night and how it had affected her.
'I went back home for the trial,' she said. 'In court, Hutchinson denied the offence, saying he was innocent. But he was found guilty.'
Convicted of murder, he was sentenced to life in jail.
Reports from a 2009 appeal, lodged at Maine's Supreme Judicial Court, which Hutchinson lost, said: '[T]he victim… was stabbed over 50 times, with sufficient force that the knife tip actually broke off and became embedded in her head, all in addition to the fatal wound she sustained in her chest.
Sarah Perry pictured as a child. She grew up in Bridgton, Maine with her mother Crystal
'At some point during this stabbing, the victim was screaming. This case involves a brutal sexual assault and murder.'
While Sarah is relieved to have some closure, she cannot forgive the brute who killed her mum.
'Maybe I could if he admitted it,' she said. 'But he hasn't, so how can I? I can't go and see him and have a dialogue.'
At last facing her demons, in the past year, Sarah has returned to Maine and looked into her mother's murder herself.
Sarah went home to Maine for the trial and gave an impassioned speech about her memories of that night and how it had affected her
At last facing her demons, in the past year, Sarah has returned to Maine and looked into her mother's murder herself.
'I've been back home, searched through the police files and learnt about my mother,' she explained. 'The police put in hundreds and hundreds of hours of work and, as a result, it was easy to convict her killer once they had a DNA match.'
Glad that her mum can finally rest in peace, Sarah feels sure she has grown into a woman she would be proud of.
'I am living in Brooklyn, New York, I'm educated and I am happy,' she said. 'I'm sure she would think I've done well and be proud of me.'
After The Eclipse by Sarah Perry is available for preorder now at audible.co.uk
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