25 Investigates: ‘Sex’, drugs, and claims of ‘grooming’ in Mass. hotel overdose death

Sex, drugs, and an overdose. New evidence obtained by 25 Investigates raises questions about the police response to a young man's death in a local hotel room. And his family speaking publicly for the first time to investigative reporter Ted Daniel. They argue this case was closed far too soon. Nobody disputes how 21-year-old Joey Domenici died. It was fentanyl poisoning. 25 Investigates is focusing on the troubling circumstances that led up to Joey's death. We're revealing what police knew when they closed the case and what they might have learned if they kept digging. A warning, this story may not be suitable for all audiences. Thank you very much. November 2019, Equality Inn in Lexington. Police video from inside room 2113. This is the bed where Joey Domenici OD'd on fentanyl, his cell phone missing. I remember going to the funeral home and seeing him there and... Joey's mom, Carla, and sister, Alyssa, knew Joey struggled with addiction. They tell me it didn't make sense. Joey was supposed to be in recovery in Florida. For new, he flew home 12 days earlier. It's just miles from their home. My name is Ted Daniel. I'm a reporter with Boston 25. Enter 69-year-old Brian Murphy, a successful business owner, family man, and a former Wolverine Lions Club president. If you're in the Lions, you run the city and can make things happen. Records provided to 25 Investigates show he paid for Joey's flight and 128 nights at the now-shuttered hotel in 2019. Joey was doing great. He was in rehab. Like, if Murphy had only told me he was here. I believe we would have had a different outcome. There are a lot of things that Brian Murphy didn't tell Joey's family, according to a lawsuit. The complaint alleges a sinister pattern that began when Joey started working for Murphy when he was around 14 years old. The family claims Murphy gave Joey a motorcycle, car and nice clothes and what they describe as a pattern of grooming. In a statement, Murphy's attorney calls Joey's death nothing less than tragic and says Murphy vehemently denies any fault. As for all the hotel stays, those are so Murphy can pray and be alone, according to one filing. But others have come forward. A young adult testified that Joey took him to meet Murphy at the same hotel in 2016. We stripped naked, a deposition states. After everything was done, Brian gave Joey the money and we left. A different man claims Murphy ordered him to drop your pants when he was 14 or 15 years old. That witness testified that Murphy said others made a whole lot of money when he refused. The Domenici's say none of this surfaced until after Joey's death. Other victims that came forward felt as if they couldn't even come forward because they felt nervous. They felt that they couldn't come forward. Murphy told a state police detective he deleted all his text messages with Joey. And he refused to hand over his phone. The investigation was marked closed, solved in July 2024. There were no charges. You may recall this. The suspects were arrested back in March. But in other parts of New England, we found a different approach. In Connecticut, state and local police got search warrants and conducted surveillance on a ring of men they accused of preying on drug-addicted teens. Connecticut attorney Joel Faxon represented families who sued those men. There is a pattern here that's very disturbing. And I think that really a deep dive is required here to see if there is criminality and to see if, you know, other stones can be turned over. Do you think the police did a good job investigating the case? Yes, I do. We question Murphy outside his work. Why don't you hand over your phone then? I have nothing to say to you. You can talk to my lawyer. I'm looking forward to my day in court, by the way. Murphy had been scheduled to have his first day in court last May, but the civil trial was postponed after his lawyer claimed Murphy had a medical emergency. The emergency didn't keep Murphy from his boat or dining at a New Hampshire resort just months later. Why does he get to do that to all these people, all these boys, my little brother? That's what it looks like to me, living his best life. That's exactly what it looks like. For Joey's family, it's a painful reminder of a system that moved on, while they remain stuck in grief. It's against the law to proposition a child for sexual acts, that's against the law. So why is that okay to do? I mean, I just don't understand it. The state police detective who closed the case is assigned to the Middlesex DA's office. In a statement, the DA's office says it cannot comment on matters where no criminal charges are filed, but noted moving forward with any criminal prosecution requires meeting a high burden of proof, a standard significantly higher than in civil court. The civil trial is now scheduled for February. For 25.