On a secluded dirt road in Worcester, Massachusetts, the quiet of November 4, 2015, was shattered by a loud bang and the sight of flames. First responders arrived on Swan Avenue to find a car engulfed in fire. Inside the burning vehicle, a grim discovery was made: the body of 35-year-old White/Caucasian female Marie R. Martin from the nearby town of Webster.
An autopsy would later reveal the horrifying truth that she had been shot and killed before the fire was set.
The investigation into Marie Martin's violent death soon uncovered a dark and twisted plot. It was revealed that Martin, who was embroiled in a custody battle with her ex-boyfriend over their young daughter, had sought to hire a hitman to assault or kill him. Through her handyman, she was introduced to a Worcester man named Donovan Goparian, then 42 years old. However, the meeting turned fatal for Martin. Instead of carrying out her request, Goparian attacked and murdered her. He then placed her body in her car and set it ablaze in an attempt to destroy the evidence.
The investigation led police to Goparian, who was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and the desecration of a body. In the early stages of the case, another man, Thomas Hogan, was charged with misleading investigators as Martin's body was found near his home, but the focus soon centered solely on Goparian. Goparian's former girlfriend became a key witness for the prosecution, testifying that she was with him when he set the car on fire, though she claimed she was unaware that Martin's body was inside at the time.
After years of legal proceedings, Donovan Goparian's trial took place in Worcester Superior Court. In February 2020, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. The conviction carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Despite the conviction, the case continued to evolve. Goparian later filed a motion for a new trial, claiming that prosecutors had failed to disclose evidence that could have implicated a third party in the crime. In July 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed the lower court's denial of his motion, ordering post-conviction discovery to proceed.
