Maurice Dean was a 23-year-old art student at Northeastern University when he was fatally shot during a robbery in Boston on March 1, 1974. The case led to the arrest and prosecution of Joseph E. Drayton, whose conviction for first-degree murder rested in part on a witness who said they saw Drayton with a silver handgun around the time of the killing.

Drayton was convicted and sentenced to prison, but the story did not end there. Over the following decades his case went through numerous appeals. New evidence and challenges to that witness’s testimony later emerged, prompting a judicial review and the granting of a new trial, which left important questions about certainty and accountability unresolved.

If anyone knew Maurice Dean, saw him in Boston in late February or on March 1, 1974, or has information about the robbery or witnesses from that time, please come forward.