Bay Stater pleads guilty to 1984 killing of man whose body was dumped in NH

Michael Lewis ... pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1984 killing (Police mugshot)

SOUTH BOSTON, Mass. - A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to two counts of manslaughter related to homicides that occurred in 1984 and 1993.

The body of the man that Michael Lewis, 65, of South Boston, killed in 1984 was Brian Watson, 23, whose body was discovered off Interstate 93 South in Manchester, N.H. With Wednesday's plea, the decades-old New Hampshire cold case is officially considered closed.

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella credited the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, the Boston Police Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit, and the Manchester Police Department for their collaboration and commitment to resolving this case.

"This resolution stands as a testament to the determination of investigators who refused to let time stand in the way of justice," said Formella. "Nearly 40 years after Brian Watson was killed, his family can finally have some measure of closure. We are deeply grateful to our partners in Massachusetts and New Hampshire who never stopped working toward this outcome."

Watson was last seen alive in mid-July 1984. His mother reported him missing later that month, and on Sept. 16, 1984, a passerby discovered his body roughly 40 feet from I-93 South in Manchester. He was identified through dental records.

A lengthy and complex joint investigation by the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit, the Manchester Police Department, and the Boston Police Department ultimately linked Lewis to the killing. Investigators determined that Lewis and another man, both involved in South Boston's drug trade, fatally shot Watson in Boston and then transported his body to New Hampshire, where it was left along the highway.

Although investigators made progress over the years, the case remained unsolved until renewed efforts by law enforcement in Massachusetts and New Hampshire led to Lewis's 2022 indictment for first-degree murder. Today's plea brings the case to a final resolution.