New trial denied for Northampton father attempting to poison child

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – A Northampton man will remain in jail after the Massachusetts Appeals Court denied his appeal for a new trial.

Christopher Conley was found guilty in 2020 on charges that in 2015 he tried to kill his then 7-year-old daughter. He was accused of injecting drain cleaner into his daughter’s cecostomy tube and then overdosing her on pain medication. As a result, the girl underwent a seven-hour surgery to remove over six feet of her intestines and another surgery to remove one-third of her bladder.

He was sentenced to 16-18 years in prison for attempted murder, assault and battery on a child by means of a dangerous weapon (opioids) and assault and battery on a child causing substantial bodily injury.

Conley appealed his conviction on his claim that his defense attorneys, Mark Bluver and John Godleski, did not represent his best interests. The case was heard on July 6, 2023, by the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

According to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office Spokesperson Laurie Loisel, in a 37-page decision released Wednesday, the court upheld Carey’s denial of the motion for a new trial and affirmed Conley’s convictions.

“We have carefully reviewed each of the defendant’s arguments and the judge’s careful resolution of them. No purpose would be served by repeating the judge’s analysis. There was no abuse of discretion,” the Appeals court wrote.

The child’s mother was convicted in June 2021 of a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment of a child which stemmed from from Gordon’s reporting of false or exaggerated symptoms supposedly experienced by her daughter, which led to a series of unnecessary and dangerous medical procedures. The child’s mother, Julie Gordon, formerly Julie Conley does not have custody of her child.