Son of 1991 murder victim feels closure

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - 70-year-old David Marrett has waited 22 years to find justice after the brutal murder of his elderly mother.

"I am pleased and comforted to know that if I thought the case was forgotten it wasn't,” said Marrett.

This week 54 year old Faustino Diaz Junior was arrested and charged with raping and murdering 90 year old Myrtle Marrett in Springfield in 1991.

• Suspect charged in 1991 Springfield murder

Diaz was a maintenance worker at the Union Street elderly housing complex where Marrett lived... and died.

"She didn't have an enemy, which makes it even more shocking that she was killed like that,” said David Marrett.

His mother’s case was re-opened as part of a cold case program that the Hampden County District Attorney's office started last spring.

A prosecutor and two police detectives were assigned to work overtime on cases out of Springfield.

The program is funded with funds from the Hampden County D.A.'s Office, including drug forfeiture money.

"There are a number of unsolved cases in Springfield that go back a number of years as you just saw with the Marrett case…there was no way budget wise the department could cover the overtime for these cases," said Mark Mastroianni, the Hampden County District Attorney.

Among those cases... the murder of 10 year old Holly Piiranien in 1993 and the 1992 murder of 24 year old Agawam teacher, Lisa Ziegert.

"There is hope to solve those two cases as well as a number of other cases,” said Mastroianni.

Hope that David held on to for 22 years.

Although he came to terms with his mother's murder several years ago, this arrest has given him closure.

"She loved people, she loved God, those two in combination made her my best friend. You can't choose your moms, I wouldn't want to have anyone else, she just gave and gave and gave," said David Marrett.

Marrett says he has no plans to communicate with the suspect or attend the trial. He does, however, still want to know why someone would kill his elderly mother.