The kitchen at The Grill Room on Exchange Street used to be loud. It wasn't just the clanging of pans or the hiss of the wood-fired grill; it was the laughter. Declan Perry was usually at the center of that noise. If you’ve spent any time in the Old Port, you probably knew his food, even if you didn't know his name.
Then everything went quiet.
In late August 2025, the Portland community woke up to news that didn't make any sense. Declan, a 27-year-old head chef with a massive future ahead of him, was found dead. Not in Maine. Not in his kitchen. He was found in the back of a black Honda Civic outside South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Honestly, the details that came out of the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office were the stuff of nightmares. He wasn't just found; he was wrapped in blankets and duct tape.
Who was Declan Perry?
Before we get into the grim legal battle currently playing out in Massachusetts courts, you have to understand who this guy was to Portland. He wasn't some fly-by-night cook. He started at The Grill Room as a teenager. Think about that for a second. Most teenagers are just trying to not burn the fries, but Declan stayed. He worked his way up. He eventually became the head chef, mentoring younger kids who were exactly like he’d been a decade earlier.
The Grill Room team described him as a "cherished member of the work family." To them, he wasn't a headline. He was the guy who was pumped about the Red Sox making a playoff push and couldn't wait for the Patriots season to start. He was a "family guy" with a "ton of friends," according to his father, Brendan Perry.
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People in the industry are still reeling. It’s a tight-knit scene in Portland, and losing a head chef at 27 is a gut punch that most restaurants never really recover from.
The Scituate Incident: What Really Happened?
This is where the story gets messy and, frankly, pretty dark. The man charged with his murder is 42-year-old Christopher Caron.
According to prosecutors, Declan drove down from Maine on August 22nd to meet Caron. They apparently went into Boston to buy fentanyl and cocaine. Caron's defense initially tried to paint this as a tragic drug overdose. They claimed they did drugs together at a condo in Scituate and Declan just didn't wake up.
But the medical examiner saw something else.
The Autopsy Evidence
If it was an overdose, the physical evidence didn't match. The preliminary report was brutal.
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- Blunt force trauma: Hemorrhaging in the chest, back, and head.
- Facial injuries: Trauma to the eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Strangulation: This was the big one. Hemorrhaging around the hyoid bone and larynx.
District Attorney Timothy Cruz was pretty blunt about it in court. He noted that all these injuries happened before Declan died. This wasn't a "he fell and hit his head" situation. This was a violent encounter.
The "Hockey Mannequin" Lie
One of the weirdest and most chilling parts of this case involves Caron’s neighbors. Imagine you're at your condo in Scituate and your neighbor asks for a hand moving something into his car. He tells you it’s a "hockey goalie mannequin" that's "filled with water" to explain why it's so heavy and wrapped in blankets.
You help him. You think nothing of it. Then you see the news the next day and realize you just helped move a human body.
That actually happened. A neighbor and a woman reportedly helped Caron load Declan’s body into the back of a Honda Civic. Caron then drove to South Shore Hospital, told the staff there was someone in the car who needed help, and then—get this—he just bolted. He left the car and ran off before the police could get there.
The Current Legal Status (2026)
Christopher Caron surrendered to police on August 30th and has since pleaded not guilty to murder. He’s being held without bail. The court proceedings have been slow, partly because many documents were initially impounded, and the investigation involved multiple jurisdictions—Portland Police, Scituate Police, and Massachusetts State Police.
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There’s a lot of focus on a female witness who was at the apartment. Prosecutors say she asked Caron to get medical help for Declan multiple times, but he refused. At one point, Caron allegedly searched for "7-Eleven and Narcan" on his phone, which suggests there was a window of time where Declan was still alive and could have been saved.
Instead, investigators found "red-brown stains" in the apartment and on a wooden door that was reportedly used as a makeshift stretcher.
Navigating the Loss in Portland
If you're in Portland, you can still feel the gap he left behind. The Grill Room took a two-week hiatus right after the news broke to let the staff grieve. It’s hard to go back to "business as usual" when the person running the heart of the house is gone.
What can you do if you want to honor him?
- Support local kitchens: Being a chef is a high-pressure, grueling job. Be kind to the staff.
- Be aware of the nuances: Don't just dismiss this as a "drug story." The evidence points to a much more complex and violent crime that the legal system is still untangling.
- Keep the memory alive: Mention him when you're at The Grill Room. The staff there clearly wants him remembered for his talent and his laugh, not just the way his life ended.
The trial is expected to continue through 2026 as more forensic evidence from the Scituate apartment is processed. For now, the city of Portland is left with a quieter kitchen and a lot of questions about why a talented 27-year-old never made it back home.
If you’re following this case, keep an eye on the Plymouth County court updates for the next evidentiary hearings. The transition from a "suspicious death" to a full-blown murder trial has shifted the narrative significantly, and the testimony from those neighbors will likely be the pivot point for the prosecution’s case.