MURDERED: Joan Webster & Marie Iannuzzi
In 1981, a Harvard graduate student vanished after stepping out of Logan Airport the night after Thanksgiving. As investigators searched for answers, they focused on a suspect connected to another murder – a woman who was killed just two years earlier. He was convicted in one case and widely believed responsible for the other. But after reviewing thousands of pages of records, we found gaps that raise difficult questions: Was the wrong man blamed? And is the real killer still out there?
Listened to this episode? Let us know what you think here.
Left to right: Joan Webster and Marie Iannuzzi
Source: Eve Carson, Source: The Paradiso Files: Boston’s Unknown Serial Killer
The marshy area behind a lobster company, where Marie’s body is found.
Courtesy: Suffolk County DA’s Office
Lenny and his boat, the Malafemmena (“Evil Woman” in Italian)
Timeline:
Afternoon
Marie attends her boyfriend David’s cousin’s wedding. They argue, and David leaves.
5:30 p.m.
Marie arrives at an afterparty for the wedding.
10 p.m.
The afterparty winds down and Marie leaves, catching a ride with Candy.
10:30 p.m.
Marie is dropped off at a bar near Logan Airport.
After midnight
Lenny says he offers Marie a ride home. She declines and walks away.
Marie’s body is found in a marshy area behind a lobster company.
About 10:30 p.m.
Joan’s flight lands at Logan Airport.
About 10:45 p.m.
A cab driver reports that a woman matching Joan’s description asks for a ride to Cambridge with an older man. They leave in a blue cab.
A friend calls Joan’s mother to say Joan missed a study group Sunday and class Monday. Joan’s sister checks her dorm room and finds unopened mail and no sign Joan returned.
A fisherman finds Joan’s wallet in marshland in Saugus, Massachusetts. Police find her red leather pocketbook nearby and begin extensive searches.
Police learn Joan’s checked suitcase was found in a locker at a Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Boston.
Assistant District Attorney Tim Burke presents Marie’s case to a grand jury.
Lenny Paradiso is arrested in connection with Marie Iannuzzi’s killing.
Investigators raise Lenny’s boat, the Malafemmena, from the harbor. No evidence is found.
Lenny’s trial for Marie’s killing begins.
Lenny is convicted of second-degree murder in Marie’s death.
Joan Webster’s remains are found in Hamilton, Massachusetts, buried beneath logs in a shallow grave.
Lenny Paradiso dies in a prison hospital.
Harvard University
Where Joan was a graduate student in architecture. She planned to take a cab from Logan Airport directly to campus the night she disappeared.
Marsh Area, Saugus, MA
A marshy area where Joan’s wallet and pocketbook are found and where Marie’s body was found two years earlier.
Boston Logan International Airport
Where Joan was last seen leaving after her flight landed around 10:30 p.m.
Hamilton, MA
Approximate location where Joan’s remains were found in a shallow grave.
Cardinals Nest
The former location of the bar where Marie was last seen at.
The Ship Restaurant
The site of David’s cousin’s wedding, which Marie attended.
Tips:
Contact Us With Info
If you know anything about the deaths of Joan Webster or Marie Iannuzzi, please contact us at [email protected].
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Mallika Dhaliwal and Nicole Kagan
- The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts): Police hunt for missing student by Bill Kettinger. Published December 3, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947717610 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/947717656
- The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts): Search continues for missing Harvard student. Published December 4, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/436879390
- The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts): Man sought in student’s disappearance. Published December 4, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947717925
- The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): Missing coed spurs probe in Bay State by Bruce Baily. Published December 5, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1112226342
- The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts): Saugus man questioned in girl’s disappearance. Published December 5, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947718211
- The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts): Search pressed for Harvard grad student by Richard Higgins and Edward Quill. Published December 6, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/436880399 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/436880549
- The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts): Snow curtails hunt for missing girl. Published December 7, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947718513
- The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): Coed Search Widens by Anthony F. Shannon. Published December 7, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1112240610
- The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts): N.J. woman’s trail ends in a marsh by Don Flynn with Patrick Clark and Jerry Schmetterer. Published December 8, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/486110775
- The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): Hunt intensifies for missing Jersey coed by Bruce Bailey. Published December 8, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1112244281
- Centre Daily Times (State College, PA): Police suspect foul play in woman’s disappearance by Alice S. Kountz. Published December 17, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/755533728
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): No leads in disappearance. Published December 8, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/436883112
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Search goes on for missing woman. Published December 10, 1981. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947719827
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): The search for Joan Webster by Richard H. Stewart. Published January 19, 1982. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/436894165 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/436894266
- The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey): Hypnotist aids hunt for coed from Jersey. Published January 20, 1982. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1112070758
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Missing coed’s suitcase found. Published February 5, 1982. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948139559 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/948139645
- Ashbury Park Press (Ashbury Park, NJ): Family still seeking daughter who vanished by Sherry Conohan. Published May 9, 1982. Accessed January 10, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/144956323 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/144956450
- The Morning Union (Springfield, MA): Divers raise suspected death boat by UPI. Published September 28, 1983. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1078137756
- The Record (Hackensack, NJ): Police find boat tied to student’s murder by Tom Toolen. Published September 28, 1983. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/494361754 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/494361755
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Paradiso denies he killed Joan Webster by David Liscio. Published November 6, 1984. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948170352
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Paradiso surgery could yield Webster clues, prosecutor says by Diane E. Lewis. Published December 19, 1984. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437635150
- North Adams Transcript (North Adams, MA): Metal clue in Webster case by UPI. Published December 19, 1984. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/544988269
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Resignation of prosecutor clouds Joan Webster case. Published September 23, 1985. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948164886
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Police say skeleton may be identified today by Efrain Hernandez Jr. Published April 27, 1990. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/439467943
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Skeleton ID’d as long-lost student by Tom Coakley & Andrew J. Dabilis. Published May 1, 1990. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/439400865 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/439400904/
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Burke confirms skeleton is that of Joan Webster by David Liscio. Published May 1, 1990. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948501459 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/948501478
- The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): Grim discovery Grad student’s remains found near Boston by Guy Sterling. Published May 1, 1990. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1114310408 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/1114310448
- The Record (Hackensack, NJ) Search for woman’s killer by Dean Chang. Published May 4, 1990. Accessed January 13, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/496170890 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/496170916
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Attempted rape case settled. Published July 5, 1975. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947669843
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Gun charge brings sentence. Published May 18, 1976. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/947736550
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Murder suspect, friend indicted for boat fraud. Published March 9, 1984. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948148441
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): 2 from Revere face boat case fraud counts by Diane E. Lewis. Published March 9, 1984. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437376582
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Ianuzzi’s lover explains scratches by David Liscio. Published July 18, 1984. Accessed January 30, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948249958 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/948250152
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Murdered woman’s boyfriend called ‘crazy’ by David Liscio. Published July 19, 1984. Accessed January 30, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/948250918
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Witness in Paradiso trial says boyfriend of slain woman attempted to kill him by Diane E. Lewis. Published July 19, 1984. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437584889
- Sun-Journal (Lewiston, MA): Paradiso guilty in E. Boston murder by AP. Published July 22, 1984. Accessed January 30, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/831128686
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Paradiso found guilty of 2d murder by Diane Lewis. Published July 22, 1984. Accessed January 30, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437418516 & https://www.newspapers.com/image/437418551
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Suffolk judge says ‘Quahog’ libel-proof. Published December 15, 1987. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437944302
- The Daily Item (Lynn, MA): Leonard ‘The Quahog’ Paradiso dies in prison by Dan O’Brien. Published February 28, 2008. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/940399468/
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA): Convicted killer Lenny Paradiso dies in prison by Shelley Murphy. Published February 28, 2008. Accessed January 29, 2025 via newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/444340913
Suggested Episodes
MURDERED: Rachel Hansen
On June 2, 2022, Rachel Hansen opened her eyes to a dark figure standing over her bed, staring at her. She screamed, and the person took off. But the very next night — just after 2 a.m. — a dark figure entered her Gilbert, Arizona, apartment again, kicked down her bedroom door and shot her in the abdomen before fleeing.
MURDERED: Jill & Julie Hansen
The 1986 shooting of 16-year-old twin sisters Jill and Julie Hansen stunned the small town of Willow Creek, California. The investigation into who shot the girls and set fire to the Hansen family home is marked by twists and turns, with evidence ultimately pointing back to a suspect close to the family. Did tunnel vision cause investigators to overlook critical pieces of evidence?
MURDERED: Bobby Moore
What began as a whirlwind romance in the midst of murder in 1970s DC, ended in small-town Indiana with two bodies and no answers. Separated by five months, the deaths of Bobby and his wife, Barbara Moore, tore a town and a family apart.
Join our Fan Club to listen ad-free!
Unlock ad-free listening for this episode & hundreds of episodes across the Audiochuck network.
Join the Fan Club now for early access, exclusive content, & more!
