A Plymouth man wielding a kitchen knife allegedly held his estranged wife captive early Tuesday morning, refusing to surrender even after Plymouth police had him cornered. The terrifying incident, captured on police body camera footage, shows one of the officers running up a flight of stairs, his gun pointed at the man, Nicholas Munroe, and […]
Author Archives: Andrea Estes - Independent Staff
Posted inPolice & Fire
Hand sentenced to life in 40-year-old murder
A Plymouth County jury Tuesday found Michael Hand guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Kingston teenager Tracy Gilpin 40 years ago. It took the jury less than six hours to reach a verdict, solving a cold case that had stumped investigators for decades. Hand, now 69, was immediately sentenced by Plymouth Superior Court […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Hand murder trial set to go to the jury
Forty years after the body of Kingston teenager Tracy Gilpin was found in Myles Standish state forest, a Plymouth County jury this week will decide whether Michael Hand was her killer. With no DNA evidence, no witnesses and no forensics linking Hand to the murder, prosecutors will rely almost entirely on Hand’s own statements to […]
Posted inGovernment
ZBA delays vote on Pulte condo project
Rattled by relentless pressure from a large group of vocal opponents to a North Plymouth condo proposal, members of the town’s zoning board of appeals took to their microphones Monday night to lament their helplessness to stop it. Their dramatic pleas were met with boos from a vocal crowd that has protested for months in […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
40 years later, a teenager girl’s murder goes to trial
It took more than 30 years for Michael Hand to be charged with the 1986 murder of Tracy Gilpin in Plymouth’s Myles Standish State Forest. And it took another eight years for Hand, arrested in 2018, to stand trial for her killing. A Plymouth County jury is finally hearing testimony in Brockton Superior Court in […]
Posted inGovernment
Golden uses campaign site during storm
It was a Golden opportunity. As the now infamous blizzard of 2026 bore down on Plymouth and plunged the town into darkness, Select Board Chair David Golden seized the moment. Over the next few days, Golden, a recently announced candidate for state representative, worked to make himself an isolated source of information for residents trapped […]
Posted inGovernment
Rep. Keating urges EPA action on Pulte project
U.S. Rep. William Keating has joined an intensifying effort by some North Plymouth residents to halt plans for a controversial 163-unit condominium development next to a Superfund site. In a Feb. 12 letter to the regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the congressman urged agency regulators to reassess the safety of the once […]
Posted inGovernment
Pulte condo project faces a new wave of opposition
North Plymouth residents are asking state and federal regulators to investigate a controversial affordable housing proposal, arguing the 163-unit Pulte Homes complex poses serious risks to people and the environment. More than 270 Plymouth residents have signed a petition, requesting the state Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency step in to […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Plymouth state trooper charged with kidnapping girlfriend
It is an ugly, high-stakes case of she said, he said. Either a Massachusetts state trooper brutalized his girlfriend, holding her captive and threatening her with knives — or the alleged victim made up the story after discovering he was using dating apps to meet other women. Plymouth County authorities believe the alleged victim, a […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Former Boys & Girls Club staffer indicted on assault charges
A former employee of the Boys & Girls Club of Plymouth has been indicted on four felony charges after being accused of touching and photographing a partially-nude 7-year-old boy. Bradley Collins, 21, of East Bridgewater, was first arraigned in Plymouth District Court in September after a camper told his mother his “best buddy” had taken […]