This is one Wellesley teardown that will probably have few objectors: 56 Cleveland Rd., the house where convicted wife killer Dirk Greineder and his family once lived, is being torn down today.
The town earlier this month issued a permit to demolish the house. The 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, 1,867 sq. ft. house sold for a little over $800K in September, after last being purchased in 2002 for $655K, according to Zillow.
The Greineder murder took place on Halloween day of 1999. Dr. Dirk Greineder was convicted of killing his wife, Mabel, at Morses Pond while the two were on a walk with one of their dogs. The allergist blamed an unknown assailant for the crime, saying that he found his wife unconscious after he left her to rest due to a bad back. But bloody gloves and other evidence convinced a jury to convict him of the killing in 2001. The Greineders’ three children supported their father during the ordeal.
While the Greineder children and their friends no doubt have many happy memories of the home, it also was the site of police searches that uncovered Dirk Greineder’s secret online obsessions, which helped to build a case against him. The seedy details of the case have been the subject of TV shows and books.
Dirk Greineder, now in his 70s, has repeatedly sought to appeal his conviction without success.
The new owners of the property will get a fresh start with a brand new home at 56 Cleveland Rd.
(Thanks to Swellesley reader RJ for this tip.)
RELATED: A Murder in Wellesley — book revisits Greineder case
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