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Peter Reilly (born March 2, 1955) was arrested, tried, and convicted of the 1973 rape and murder of his mother Barbara Gibbons in Canaan, Connecticut.
His mother named her only child Peter Reilly but his father's identity remains unknown - that knowledge having died with her. Mother and son settled into a small cottage in Caanan, a village in the northeastern corner of Connecticut. On September 28, 1973, a Friday, Barbara and her son sat down to dinner, played cards, then Peter and friend Geoff Madow went out to see friends. When Peter returned home just before 10pm he found his mother brutally beaten, raped, and killed - her head nearly decapitated. She had numerous broken bones and knife wounds.
Police responded quickly, read the 18 year old boy his rights, and had him sign a document waiving his right to having counsel present during questioning. Even though Peter's clothes and body lacked any sign of being in a struggle - blood, bruises, scrapes, or scratches - the police questioned him for 25 continuous hours, without council present, and obtained a confession.
Donald Connery, a Kent (CT) journalist who wrote a book about the arrest and wrongful conviction of Peter Reilly in the 1973 murder of his mother in Canaan.
http://www.amazon.com/Death-Canaan-Joan-Barthel/dp/0525704965