Last modified: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:35 AM EDT Lykus denied bail BY DAVID LINTON / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTH ATTLEBORO -- A New Bedford Superior Court judge has denied a bid for free-dom for a man in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old neighbor in 1972. Judge Richard Chin turned down a request by Edward Lykus, 53, to go free while the Bristol County District Attorney's office appeals a court decision vacating his 1973 murder conviction and ordering a new trial. Lykus is being held at the Bay State Correctional Center in Norfolk for the kidnapping and murder of Paul Cavalieri, who was last seen alive in November 1972. His remains were found five months later. Lykus, son of the late Police Chief Stanley Lykus, was convicted in 1973 when he was 20 and is serving two life terms for kidnapping, murder and extortion. But in December of last year, Judge David A. McLaughlin vacated his conviction, ruling that some of the evidence against Lykus was flawed -- depriv-ing him of a fair trial. The district attorney's office is seeking a hearing before the state Supreme Judicial Court. Prosecutors want the court to over-turn McLaughlin's decision. Assistant District Attorney Robert Goodale, who was notified of Chin's ruling on Monday, said Tuesday he was pleased. Goodale said if the prosecution gets a hearing before the Supreme Judicial Court, a ruling on the prosecution's appeal could take about a year. Lykus' family had hoped he would be released, pending the appeal. `` The family is obviously disappointed with the decision, but as the family has felt the last thirty years, they have hoped for the best and expected the worst,'' said Ron Langlois, Lykus's brother-in-law and the family spokesman. `` It is just a waiting game at this point to see where the next step leads us.'' Steven Cavalieri, the victim's brother, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But in previous interviews he has said his family felt threatened by the prospect of Lykus getting out of prison. Lykus has always denied killing Cavalieri but admitted to picking up the ransom money for $500 from someone he did not know. He was convicted in a circumstantial case in which key evidence was voice print analysis of telephone calls to the victim's family demanding $50,000 in ransom. After losing previous appeals, Lykus obtained FBI documents which revealed the bureau deliberately withheld a report which questioned the reliability of the voice identification linking Lykus to the ransom call. Lykus's lawyer, Chauncey B. Wood of Cambridge, also raised questioned about the reliability of ballistics evidence in the case. Despite the state of the evidence regarding the voiceprints and ballistics, Goodale had argued that the prosecution's case against Lykus was still strong. At the 1973 trial, a police expert and several witnesses who were friends and acquaintances of Lykus testified at the trial that the voice on the taped call belonged to Lykus. Goodale also argued that Lykus kept changing his story when confronted with evidence in the case. Wood argued that the case was not as strong as the prosecution claimed, and that the state faces the prospect of retrying a 33-year-old murder case. Wood did not return telephone calls Tuesday seeking comment on Chin's ruling.