On the afternoon of October 1, 1997, 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley told his grandmother, "I have to go do something. I'll be back in a little while." Then he left her Cambridge, Ma. house. His grandmother would be the last one to see him alive.

When Curley did not come home that evening, his family, their neighbors and police organized a large scale search. They also distributed flyers with the boy's picture.

The next day Salvatore Sicari, Curley's neighbor and adult "friend," arrived at the Curleys' home with a handful of the flyers. He expressed his concern over the boy's disappearance and offered his assistance. Sicari also began to speak to Cambridge police, offering bits of information.

Sicari told police that he had last seen Curley on the morning of October 1, when Curley had threatened him with his dog. Sicari said that he told Curley that he would kill the dog if the boy didn't stop.

After that encounter, Sicari said, he met up with Charles Jaynes. Sicari told authorities that he had seen Curley riding in Jaynes' Cadillac in the past. He also claimed that Jaynes had promised Curley a bicycle. He had warned Curley to stay away from Jaynes, Sicari told police.

Jaynes was contacted by Cambridge police on October 2. While he denied knowing Curley, he was arrested on an outstanding warrant and taken into custody. In Jaynes' wallet, police found four receipts for items purchased with a credit card bearing his father's name: Edward Jaynes. The items included a receipt from Bradlees for a Rubbermaid container, a receipt from Home Depot for cement and lime, a receipt for a bicycle and a receipt from an Osco Drug Store for cigars and No-Doz pills.

All of these purchases were made on the day of Curley's disappearance. When questioned, Jaynes said that he knew Curley, but denied seeing him on the day the boy disappeared.

Sicari was contacted again by Cambridge police and continued to provide details. In his statement, Sicari described the killing. While he drove Jaynes' Cadillac, he explained, the 250-pound Jaynes sat on Curley in the back seat. As Curley struggled, Jaynes allegedly told him, "Don't fight it." Jaynes then placed a gasoline soaked rag to the boy's mouth and held it there, killing him, Sicari said.

After the killing, Sicari told police, he and Jaynes drove to numerous stores to buy the items necessary to dispose of Curley's body. Video cameras in two of the stores captured the men at the checkout counter purchasing a Rubbermaid container, a bag of lime and a bag of concrete. The men then left Massachusetts and drove north to Jaynes' apartment in Manchester, New Hampshire. There, according to Sicari, Jaynes took off Curley's clothes and molested the boy's dead body. The sight of this made him ill, said Sicari. When he ran to the bathroom, Jaynes told him, "Don't be a baby. Come out here and help me -- he's starting to stiffen up."

Sicari then admitted to helping Jaynes prepare the body. First they placed Curley's body in the cement-filled Rubbermaid container, put lime on his face and in his mouth to speed decomposition, and sealed the container with duct tape. Then they drove to Maine, where they dumped the container into a river, Sicari said.

Prosecutors believed that Sicari and Jaynes lured Curley into Jaynes' Cadillac with the promise of $50 and a bicycle. One or both of the men allegedly made sexual advances towards the boy, then suffocated him when he resisted.

Prosecutor David Yanetti said it doesn't matter which man physically performed the kidnapping and murder. Even if it was Jaynes who actually kidnapped and murdered Curley, Sicari is equally culpable because he intended to commit the crimes and assisted Jaynes in carrying them out, Yanetti insisted.

Sicari pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. He maintained that it was Jaynes, a self-admitted pedophile, who killed Curley. Sicari claimed he in no way cooperated with Jaynes or shared in any intent. Sicari also said it was Jaynes who later molested Curley's dead body. The defendant conceded, however, that he did nothing to prevent the killing, that he helped Jaynes prepare Curley's body for disposal, and helped Jaynes dump Curley's corpse into the river. He also admitted that he initially lied to police.

Furthermore, Sicari's defense claimed there are insufficient grounds to warrant the kidnapping charge. Defense attorney Arthur Kelly said Curley had been in Jaynes' Cadillac many times, and there was no evidence to suggest that the boy didn't voluntarily enter the car on the day of the killing.

Jaynes also pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and first-degree murder. He denied killing Curley and claimed that Sicari lied to police. Because their stories about Curley's death are different, Jaynes and Sicari had separate trials.

The Verdict
Salvatore Sicari was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping.

Reported by Court TV's Felice Conte