VT - Melissa Walbridge, 12, raped & murdered, Essex Junction, 15 May 1981

I was wondering if anyone remembers this case... It happened in Essex Junction,
Vermont on May 15th 1981. Melissa Walbridge and Megan O'Rourke, 12-year-old sixth-graders were brutaly raped and tortured as they took a shortcut home through a wooded section of a park near their school. Remarkably, Meghan O'Rourke survived to assist police in putting her attackers Jamie Savage, 15, and Louie Hamlin, 16, behind bars. Savage served no more than 3 years because law demanded he be tried in juvenile court. I heard that once released he had changed his name to John W. Barber and moved to Arizona. Hamlin was tried as an adult and sentenced to 45-life for murder & 15-25 for sexual assault. He was serving his time at St. Albans Correctional Center. But later he was secreted out of state to a federal peniteniary in Springfield, Missouri, they stated that they could not guarentee his safety in the Vermont prison system. Well, thats the last I've heard of this case. I've been wondering whatever happened to Megan O'Rourke... How is she, What kind of work she does, Is she married? I just hope she has been blessed since this awful tragedy! And ofcourse I wonder about Savage/Barber... Where he's been living
and what he's been up to? Also would love to know if Hamlin's still in prison and where at and if he's out where he is? So if anyone knows about this case...maybe you live in Vermont? Maybe you just remember this awful tragedy.. whatever the case please post here. This case really touched my heart!!!

I did find this website
http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1981-9/1981-09-30-ABC-21.html
It is a television news archive ... footage is only about 5min long, it looks as though I can request a copy to be mailed to me on loan, but they charge some type of service fee... I looked at the fee section and hmmm....

The Archive will loan copies of a videotape of any Evening News program, Special News Program, or item from our Specialized Collections.

The fees charged depend on the type of user:

CategoryCost per 1/2 hourVanderbilt Student$ 25.00Vanderbilt Staff$ 25.00Vanderbilt Faculty$ 25.00Member of Sponsoring Institution$ 25.00Other Higher Educational Institution$ 50.00K-12 School (student, teacher, administrator)$ 50.00Personal Research with no organizational affiliation$ 100.00Government Agency$ 100.00Non-profit organization$ 100.00Commercial organization$ 100.00Public Library Staff$ 100.00Media/Journalism (TV, Radio, Print)$ 100.00
$100 for 5min of material??? Am I reading this right? And I still have to pay shipping & handling?

I found out that after Louis Hamlin was sent to the federal peniteniary in Springfield, Missouri, he was then moved again to the federal correctional institute in Oxford, Wisconsin. This being the last known facility he was housed at I did a inmate locator search through the federal prisons (inmateloc.bop.gov/locatordocs/home.jsp) and found the following...

1.Name LOUIS HAMLIN DOB 1964-10-29 # 38897-06641 race White sex Male RELEASED 09-28-1993
realeased??? Well I got to thinking that maybe on 9-28-93 he was released back to Vermont...so I did an inmate locator, and found that he was listed as being held at a Facility Interstate Compact Facility
For information call 802-751-0252 Caseworker JEFFREY PERCY

So then I looked up the facility listed as "Interstate Compact"....basically this is the deal...

INTERSTATE CORRECTIONS COMPACT
As used in this compact, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: "State" means a state of the United States, located in New England; to wit, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island; "sending state" means a state party to this compact in which conviction or court commitment was had; "receiving state" means a state party to this compact to which an inmate is sent for confinement other than a state in which conviction or court commitment was had; "inmate" means a male or female offender who is committed, under sentence to or confined in a penal or correctional institution; "institution" means any penal or correctional facility, including but not limited to a facility for the mentally ill or mentally defective, in which inmates as defined above may lawfully be confined.

I then searched all the inmate locators available online... but to no avail!
I then realized that maybe the reason he was listed in Vermont as such (interstate compact facility) was because initially he was sent out of state to the Fed. Prison system... and if so Fed. has him listed as "released" as of 1993. So maybe he is just that "released" to society... but I find that hard to believe... he was convicted on July 15th, 1982...He was arrested a few weeks after the murder (May 21st, 1981)... so if he was realeased all in all he served 12yrs & 4mos of his sentence of 45-life & 15-12yrs????:behindbar

Well If anyone has any thoughts on this, or if I've gotten it wrong, let me know!!!

I don't know the case. But I do know that sometimes they get time off for good behavior. And in some states, with parole they may only serve about 1/3 of their sentence. Since both sentences were probably being served at the same time, it looks like it might be possible that he might have gotten out in '93.

If you are looking for articles about the crime, you might try this site: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DesktopDefault.aspx Though it is likely that his release won't be mentioned, as they often do not want to alert the public that there is another ex con on the street.
You might also try checking for him on the sex offender database, as if he was determined to be a sex offender he should be listed there. http://www.nsopr.gov/

You might also try checking for him on the sex offender database, as if he was determined to be a sex offender he should be listed there. http://www.nsopr.gov/

Click to expand...

I have checked here, and turned up nothing on him. I didn't think I would being that he was a juvenile at the time he committed his crime.
I know that they do accumulate good time, I just can't believe he got out that early. This crime was very a very violent act... I didn't initially list alll th graphic details in this case....

I found this on a message board:

"Yeah, they wrote a book and made a movie about it. I haven't read the book or seen the movie and have a mental block about the name. My friend spent four months in a phyciatric ward to keep him from killing these punks. One of them is out as far as I know, his name is louis hamlin jr. and he would be about 36 now. The other piece of shiite, jamie savage was murdered somewere out west after having been in and out of prison and killing two more people. (that they know of) I accually ran into the savage cretin at the vermont state hospital when I worked there and had the other piece of shiite's dad locked up in the sex offenders unit at the chittendon community corrrectional center in Burlington Vt. when I worked there. Anyone that says I lack self control has no idea!"

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11297.html

ETA: I found a link for the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0880150114/sr=8-2/qid=1150421811/ref=sr_1_2/104-8376612-7236765?%5Fencoding=UTF8

H0NEYWEST said:

I found this on a message board:

"Yeah, they wrote a book and made a movie about it. I haven't read the book or seen the movie and have a mental block about the name. My friend spent four months in a phyciatric ward to keep him from killing these punks. One of them is out as far as I know, his name is louis hamlin jr. and he would be about 36 now. The other piece of shiite, jamie savage was murdered somewere out west after having been in and out of prison and killing two more people. (that they know of) I accually ran into the savage cretin at the vermont state hospital when I worked there and had the other piece of shiite's dad locked up in the sex offenders unit at the chittendon community corrrectional center in Burlington Vt. when I worked there. Anyone that says I lack self control has no idea!"

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11297.html

ETA: I found a link for the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0880150114/sr=8-2/qid=1150421811/ref=sr_1_2/104-8376612-7236765?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Click to expand...

Well I have read the book, many times. As for the movie I didn't think they had made one. I can't find much info. about the case online, I've been looking for awhile. I'm confused about the link you posted. I went there but the discussion seemed to be about Megan's Law... which has nothing to do with this case... Megan's Law is named after Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed at age seven by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the Kanka family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kankas sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area and on May 17, 1996, President Clinton signed Megan's Law.

I think whoever posted that are getting it confused because of the name "Megan" or "Meghan"... but as far as the other info... about John (Jamie Savage) Barber, that is interesting. I wonder what state he commited these murder, could it have been Arizona... that is the last place I know of him residing, after he legally changed his name to John Barber. I kind of figured that Louis Hamlin was released from what I have found on the internet. I believe his birthday is 10/29/64... so he would be 41 now, I wonder where he resides...Vermont? I would think he would not want to return there for fear of retaliation. It's possible he is living in Wisconsin, since I believe that he was released from the Federal Prison there. And I do remember about about Louis Hamlin's father. He was a monster, a pedophile and into child *advertiser censored*... he even molested his own children, and video taped his daughter.... I never heard how long he served for those charges?

Well I'm not having any luck verifing the John (Jamie Savage) Barber murders. Doesn't mean that it didn't happen, but I'm not finding it.... I think my detective skills are not what I hoped they were....If any one would like to help to verify this information that
"Honeywest" found in a posting... Please feel free!

I have always had a soft spot for this case since I first read the book, and have always wondered what became of the people involved. There is surprisingly little info. on the web about this case, considering how brutal and tragic it was, other than some reviews of the book.

I remember doing some internet searches many years ago, and I came across a website for some sort of victims rights group, based out of Vermont, and the name Meghan O'Rourke, along with a title (which I can't recall) and a phone number were listed. I tried searching for it again, but no luck finding it. I did come across this website:

http://www.cctv.org/index.php?SiteAlias=cctv&PageAlias=CCTV_Staff#Meghon%20O

Based in Vermont, but the odds of it being the Meghan we are referring to are probably pretty slim. I doubt it's even worth mentioning, but there is an attorney by the name of Daniel P. O'Rourke listed in Essex Junction. A relation, perhaps?

I'm very surprised that there are no memorials online for Melissa. I know the crime took place in 1981, but it seems odd to me that there is nothing online to memorialize her.

I grew up in Essex Center Vermont and am just 1 yr older then Megan O Rourke. I remember all of this like it was yesterday! I didnt know Mellissa or Meghan but did know MANY other people involved. I even had a run in with Savage myself. I was delievering a meat bundle from my mothers store to a diner just around the corner and Savage threatened me with a knife. I told my folks who put it off as a teen's imagination. That is until they were arrested and I saw the picture of Savage and said yes that's him. If you are all wondering Yes Essex is as idealic as they portrayed it and yes the whole town was that innocent! Small town as I said. I knew the man from the train who found Megan, I worked in Henry's Market where Jamie and Louis bought and stole things, later in life my first apartment's back window overlooked Jamie's parents house (they still lived there then). These are only a few of the people involved that I know.
I remember being locked in early those days. I also remember that was the first summer I didn't get swimming lessons at the Maple Street Park.
I now live in Florida where these things happen daily and still have Vermont in my memories as a safe harbor.
Recently Essex was shook with another "happening". A killer on the loose thankfully they caught him within an hour. Anyways yes that was scary times in small town Vermont. I only heard rumors of how Megan turned out grown up. Anyone one person living in Chittenden County Vermont in the early 80's can tell you their own versions of this story it was our own bit of sad history. We had the petition to strengthen the jvenile laws in Vermont on my Mom's store counter.
I hope others post their findings as I also would like to hear the outcome.

I do remember this case, I was a freshman in high school at Burlington High school. I can remember Louis Hamlin coming into school a few days after the crime was commited and saying " I don't know how someone could do that to another human being" and then to find out that he was one of them. I can remember this like it was yesterday also. I taught self defense classes at Essex Junction High school not long after this happened.

I did not know that this case had a thread. I just happened upon it tonight. There are not even names in the title of this thread!
One of my aunt's lived next door to Louis on Elmwood avenue here,in Burlington. My other aunt lived in Essex Junction and worked at the Lincoln Inn there. She worked with Jamie.

Melissa's brother was arrested and he says that it is not his fault that he did the crimes, it is because of what happened to his sister! He blamed his fantasy sex drive on Melissa's murder. He is a counselor at a school that my cousin's son attends.
Here is this from my news tonight;

Click here for link



Respectfully,
dark_shadows
Also I was working in the facility that Hamlin's father was brought to.

Amy Noel said:

Well I'm not having any luck verifing the John (Jamie Savage) Barber murders. Doesn't mean that it didn't happen, but I'm not finding it.... I think my detective skills are not what I hoped they were....If any one would like to help to verify this information that
"Honeywest" found in a posting... Please feel free!

Click to expand...

Dearest Amy Noel,:blowkiss:
It was not Jamie that was murdered, it was his brother. His brother Rene was murdered in 1984 after he was an accomplice in an arson. He was hired by a man who was hired by a former state representative to commit arson to collect insurance monies on a business he owned.
The man who hired him was in the facility where I worked. The man who hired Savage thought that Savage would "rat" him out, so he killed him. He took him to Mcdonalds for a meal prior to killing him.
Here is a link for you, it does not mention the "last meal" thing, but that is what happened.
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050315/NEWS/503150332/1003


Respectfully,
dark_shadows

Thanks Dark Shadows for all the great info! Do you happen to know what happened to either Hamlin or Savage (a.k.a Barber). Like I mentioned in an earlier post... I just can't help but belive that anyone who could commit crime like this is not going to be able to be rehabilitated. They are sure to become repeat or even serial offenders if not caught. I would love to know where they are now and what they are doing... hopefully somebody is keeping a watchful eye on them!

Dearest Amy,:blowkiss:
Hamlin is still incarcerated. Last I knew, he was in Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility. He is still under the custody of Vermont Corrections. (interstate compact)


Respectfully,
dark_shadows

This may be what Melissa Walbridge is now doing. Interesting line of work, considering.

https://www.msu.edu/~reethskr/myweb/gwq/teacher_page.htm

Melissa Walbridge

Found this:

Name: Solomon James O'Rourk Zeitlyn
Birth Date: 15 Feb 1999
Birth City: South Hero
Birth State: Vermont
Father: Dylan Shepard Zeitlyn
Mother: Meghan April O'Rourke
Mother Maiden Name: O'Rourke

Name: Meghan A Orourke
Street address: Po Box 572
City: South Hero
County: Grand Isle
State: Vermont
Zip Code: 05486
Phone Number: 802-372-8894
Record Number: 175998851

Given, Middle Name, Surname: Melissa Walbridge
Birth Date: 17 Jul 1968
Death Date: 15 May 1981
Place of Death: Essex, VT
Age: 12

PaulyShor-oo said:

This may be what Melissa Walbridge is now doing. Interesting line of work, considering.

https://www.msu.edu/~reethskr/myweb/gwq/teacher_page.htm

Melissa Walbridge

Click to expand...

This could not be the same girl/ woman, although I suppose it could be a relative. Melissa died in the attacks. MEGHAN lived to testify against her attackers.

I see that you are new. Welcome to WS, and I hope I haven't embarrassed you by pointing out an innocent error.
Best,
Maria

I like to look people up on the internet, so here is what I found at the birthday database for John Barber (AKA Jamie Savage) who would've been born in 1966 if he was 15 as of May, 1981 (I am unable to copy and paste, so here is the link) : http://www.birthdatabase.com/cgi-bin/query.pl?textfield=JOHN&textfield2=BARBER&age=&page=2&zip=

There is unclaimed property for a Jamie H Savage of PO Box 847, West Dover VT at the Vermont Office of State Treasurer: http://www.vermonttreasurer.gov/unclaimed/ownerSearch.asp

According to Zabasearch, there was a Jamie Savage in Eden VT as of 12/2004:

JAMIE SAVAGE More info available for a fee Record Created: 12/2004
1679 SHOVER RD Satellite Photo & Map Google Images News Video
EDEN, VT 05652 (802) 635-2222

Coincidentally, there is a Jamie Savage incarcerated in TX but she's a female. : )

PaulyShor-oo said:

This may be what Melissa Walbridge is now doing. Interesting line of work, considering.

https://www.msu.edu/~reethskr/myweb/gwq/teacher_page.htm

Melissa Walbridge

Click to expand...

Melissa was murdered.