Episode 94 | Unsafe: The Murder of Jennifer Martel, Waltham, Massachusetts
- Anngelle Wood
- Oct 20
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 5
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. We should be talking about domestic violence, and how to prevent it, all the time, to help others recognize what it is and how insidious it can be. It is so much more than bruises and black eyes.
The murder of Jennifer Martel exposed the breakdown in the domestic violence response. There were missed warning signs, and major red flags that were ignored (or pretended not to exist at all). The treatment of people in an abusive domestic situation is inadequate at best. We have been woefully absent.
It was Thursday, August 15, 2013. Most of the summer was behind her. Jennifer was at home, which should be the safest place for a woman,
but there was no safety for her in the home she shared with her 4-year-old child, and the man who would kill her. Like so many other cases in the true crime domain, when you try to research Jennifer’s case, she is “the girlfriend” and “the victim” — she deserves so much more than that.
There are countless stories of the perpetrator and his connection to celebrity, the term “nepo baby” comes to mind, despite him not having achieved anything in his professional life--aside from getting fired from the Red Sox organization over steroids.
Jennifer Martel’s case is like so many other women who were tied to a bad relationship through a shared child. Few people seemed to know what Jennifer was really going through at home. There were many reasons why leaving was so difficult.
It is like so many other women’s stories who were trying to see a way out. It is like so many other stories where the victim is lost in the headlines of the case. What it is not like is how she was murdered by a very dangerous man who had been dangerous for a long time. He was the son of a beloved figure among the Boston Red Sox - Jerry Remy, the "RemDog" who called the games after his playing career ended. Fenway Park is like church around here. There is a lot of hero worship.
Jennifer Martel was 27 when she was murdered. She had a plan for the next phase of her life, a next phase that did not include Jared Remy.
Just two days before Jennifer was killed, Remy was arrested for slamming her head into a bathroom mirror. She called to report him — the audio from the 911 call says it all — and Remy was arrested and charged with assault and battery. Jennifer was granted an emergency restraining order that night, and she would be able to extend it the following day, Wednesday, August 14, at Remy’s arraignment in Waltham District Court.
However, Jennifer did not appear in court and the restraining order expired. It is important to understand why Jennifer didn't attend that arraignment the day before she was stabbed to death in the presence of her 4-year-old and her next door neighbors, and who may have been behind telling her not to go.
Instead, no bail was sought, and Remy was released on personal recognizance. This is Something that would prove to be a grave error on the prosecutors' part. no one had the foresight to look at his background. No one checked priors. If they had, they would have seen a long history of violence against women. Many women.
History is well documented as to why many women don’t appear in abuse cases like this – for fear of retribution, more abuse, how they can support themselves and their children, the pleas of the partner, and, in Jennifer’s case, from the Remys. Patty Martel said Jennifer heard from Remy’s mother, Phoebe, who begged her not to file a complaint because it would ruin Remy’s life. His life. Mrs. Remy, according to the Martels, said they would protect her. Maybe Mrs. Remy believed what she was saying, but her son's history of violence was crystal clear. His mother saw it first hand, for decades.
National Domestic Violence Hotline | thehotline.org
Jane Doe Inc | janedoe.org |
Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence
HLN - Neighbor recounts Jennifer Martel's attack
