NH NH - Connecticut River Valley Killer (1980s)

[nhmemorymaker]

Thanks for this.
I was hoping someone would drag some details of RH life over to this thread, for any thoughts or connection
I just can't follow his thread..just too dismal for me.
So the 80s are still pretty much of a mystery. Wish we could dig up more.

People in the New England states do get around all 6 states quite a bit. The upper three are always vacation destinations for the lower 3. And folks from bigger states just have to realize just how small the New England states are.
Ha
Well, you can really get lost forever in the state of Maine.
L
The few people I have known on the greater long island area, really never ventured very far.

Seriously tho, if you have any other clues or ideas on what we can try to sleuth with in new England for rh please share...

In order to get to where the bodies were 2 bodies about 500ft apart were found, I'm assuming the terrain wasn't the easiest to walk through and therefore either they were carried there or forced to walk. But they seemed all to have been killed by a knife. Just an assumption and a question that I'm wondering about. , I guess I'm just wondering about On April 25, 1986, Morse's remains were found by loggers in Unity, New Hampshire, about 500 feet (150 m) from where Critchley's body had been discovered in 1981. Why that spot and On July 25, 1981, 37-year-old Mary Elizabeth Critchley On July 10, 1985, 27-year-old single mother Eva Marie Morse 4yr time span, almost to the day reported missing. 2 Weeks 4 years apart in July. Most of the of the 7 victims were found at the most 19.1 mile maybe , 1 within a Mile average for all 7 9.42/miles from a center of reference. 3 victims missing in the month of July 10, 22nd and 25th. If you count Boroski Aug 6th that is 4 out of 8 victims. 3 victims in July out of 7 almost 1/2 50% or 43% . I guess you might ask why July why that geographic location. Could be a good chance they have their man, But did he have an accomplice. If so maybe the owner of that car in the garage. Did anything happen in 1987. Just some questions. Forgive the cryptic writing. By the way sugar river trail 9 mile trail begins at the Newport Recreation Department on Belknap Ave in Newport and ends at Washington Street in Claremont.

Good post. Will remember as a reference point.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I also lived on LI for a year or so in my early 20s and somewhat agree. There was a bit of a mix--people were deeply local and rooted or very cosmopolitan in my experience. Also LI has very separate, distinct parts, even more so years ago. Some areas feel more "New England". Like the farms and so on out on the North Fork, and to some extent parts of the South Fork also. You could be on the Cape or somewhere like it in Massachusetts or Rhode Island. It felt different, but not THAT different to me.

Closer to NYC, different vibes entirely, IME.

Agree.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Adding in RH. While you certainly could do this drive easily--I've done something like it myself tons of times--you pass through SOOOOO many other cities and small towns along the wayView attachment 505983, I cannot understand why RH would be up in rural NH and VT "hunting" and randomly dumping bodies? he would be passing through so many other places. Why this area? Why the hassle? JMO!

During THOSE years it might only have something to do with his youth /parents and I have not followed RH recently to know, what, of anything we know of his youth.

 

[Beekarina]

I mentioned this a few years ago, but I also think LE might look again at Gary Schaefer. He lived in Springfield, Vermont and his known victims overlap with some of the CVK linked killings.

Schaefer was apprehended in April of 1983, so he would not have been able to have committed all of the attacks.

Gary Schaefer - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[carbuff]

Slightly different perspective: we vacationed in the Newport-Claremont-Sunapee area several times in the mid-80s. We were a young family working in the computer industry in Nashua; it was close enough and cheap enough to let us take a long weekend a couple of times each summer without breaking the budget.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast on the shoulder of Mt. Sunapee one year and at a regular motel in Claremont another time. Other places I don't remember. We did outdoor things (took the cable car to the top of Mt. Sunapee and hiked down, hiked shorter trails (Sunapee Greenway?), took a boat out on Lake Sunapee) and driving-around things like going over to the Saint-Gaudens estate and driving around looking at covered bridges and a couple of historic cemeteries. There was a farm where we watched them spin wool, and I bought some yarn to crochet with later.

When the kids got older, we skied at Mt. Sunapee a couple of times--again, cheap and close enough to be just a day trip.

I remember there was a real good pizza place in Newbury.

I also remember it was crowded everywhere we went. Lots of tourists just wandering around with families, or couples, or small groups. A lot of them were from Canada, as I recall, but most of them were from Boston, Connecticut, some from New York. RH would have fit right in.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Slightly different perspective: we vacationed in the Newport-Claremont-Sunapee area several times in the mid-80s. We were a young family working in the computer industry in Nashua; it was close enough and cheap enough to let us take a long weekend a couple of times each summer without breaking the budget.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast on the shoulder of Mt. Sunapee one year and at a regular motel in Claremont another time. Other places I don't remember. We did outdoor things (took the cable car to the top of Mt. Sunapee and hiked down, hiked shorter trails (Sunapee Greenway?), took a boat out on Lake Sunapee) and driving-around things like going over to the Saint-Gaudens estate and driving around looking at covered bridges and a couple of historic cemeteries. There was a farm where we watched them spin wool, and I bought some yarn to crochet with later.

When the kids got older, we skied at Mt. Sunapee a couple of times--again, cheap and close enough to be just a day trip.

I remember there was a real good pizza place in Newbury.

I also remember it was crowded everywhere we went. Lots of tourists just wandering around with families, or couples, or small groups. A lot of them were from Canada, as I recall, but most of them were from Boston, Connecticut, some from New York. RH would have fit right in.

Such familiar memories ! I loved in Brookline west of Nashia, for all my kids childhood years, and as you would take some of those western excursions. And was in the computer industry for years . DEC.
SO was well aware of this suspected serial killer. But totally lost track of all

 

[carbuff]

Such familiar memories ! I loved in Brookline west of Nashia, for all my kids childhood years, and as you would take some of those western excursions. And was in the computer industry for years . DEC.
SO was well aware of this suspected serial killer. But totally lost track of all

We were DEC too. Merrimack and later Spit Brook Road.

I heard about some murders and killers, but I don't recall hearing about the Connecticut Valley killer until much later.

 

[Beekarina]

Slightly different perspective: we vacationed in the Newport-Claremont-Sunapee area several times in the mid-80s. We were a young family working in the computer industry in Nashua; it was close enough and cheap enough to let us take a long weekend a couple of times each summer without breaking the budget.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast on the shoulder of Mt. Sunapee one year and at a regular motel in Claremont another time. Other places I don't remember. We did outdoor things (took the cable car to the top of Mt. Sunapee and hiked down, hiked shorter trails (Sunapee Greenway?), took a boat out on Lake Sunapee) and driving-around things like going over to the Saint-Gaudens estate and driving around looking at covered bridges and a couple of historic cemeteries. There was a farm where we watched them spin wool, and I bought some yarn to crochet with later.

When the kids got older, we skied at Mt. Sunapee a couple of times--again, cheap and close enough to be just a day trip.

I remember there was a real good pizza place in Newbury.

I also remember it was crowded everywhere we went. Lots of tourists just wandering around with families, or couples, or small groups. A lot of them were from Canada, as I recall, but most of them were from Boston, Connecticut, some from New York. RH would have fit right in.

Sunapee, Newbury, New London is not Newport or Claremont though. There is a real class divide.

You're not going to find tourists wandering around Newport, Claremont or Unity. Skiing at Mt Sunapee? Sure thing. In the summer, swimming at the lake--i.e. Sunapee State Park? Yes. People have summer homes there, including some famous people--i.e. Steven Tyler.

Saint Gaudens is Cornish, and you were likely that way to also look at the Cornish-Windsor (VT) covered bridge. It used to be the longest one, and it spans the Connecticut River. If you drove a bit longer on that road you would end up in Lebanon, and then you're minutes from Dartmouth. Again, another world socioeconomically.

RH knowing to dump the bodies where they were? Being in the locations/seasons where/when these victims were?

Makes no sense at all to me.

I think maybe there was/is an "Upper Valley killer", someone local to Newport/Claremont who killed the women found near the Sugar River trail (perhaps the guy in Kelleyville, or someone like him), and then someone else who killed Lynda and attacked Jane.

Also if the guy who attacked Jane had been from Long Island, she would have picked up on a NY accent. She had a conversation with him, remember?

Again, JMO. I grew up just outside of Saxtons River, and currently live in NH. Growing up in rural Vermont, we immediately noticed out of state plates. Having now lived in many different places, this is embarrassing to admit, but if you were cruising around in a vehicle with NY plates? You would have been noticed, and not in a good way.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

We were DEC too. Merrimack and later Spit Brook Road.

I heard about some murders and killers, but I don't recall hearing about the Connecticut Valley killer until much later.

I was in Merrimack for most of my 17 years, but my group opened up 10 Tara Blvd, and was there for 3.

Beekarina is right on about the area of the killings..a little depressed area unto itself. I had a best friend on Clairmont. She knew a helluva lot about the killings
...I may try to call her.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Sunapee, Newbury, New London is not Newport or Claremont though. There is a real class divide.

You're not going to find tourists wandering around Newport, Claremont or Unity. Skiing at Mt Sunapee? Sure thing. In the summer, swimming at the lake--i.e. Sunapee State Park? Yes. People have summer homes there, including some famous people--i.e. Steven Tyler.

Saint Gaudens is Cornish, and you were likely that way to also look at the Cornish-Windsor (VT) covered bridge. It used to be the longest one, and it spans the Connecticut River. If you drove a bit longer on that road you would end up in Lebanon, and then you're minutes from Dartmouth. Again, another world socioeconomically.

RH knowing to dump the bodies where they were? Being in the locations/seasons where/when these victims were?

Makes no sense at all to me.

I think maybe there was/is an "Upper Valley killer", someone local to Newport/Claremont who killed the women found near the Sugar River trail (perhaps the guy in Kelleyville, or someone like him), and then someone else who killed Lynda and attacked Jane.

Also if the guy who attacked Jane had been from Long Island, she would have picked up on a NY accent. She had a conversation with him, remember?

Again, JMO. I grew up just outside of Saxtons River, and currently live in NH. Growing up in rural Vermont, we immediately noticed out of state plates. Having now lived in many different places, this is embarrassing to admit, but if you were cruising around in a vehicle with NY plates? You would have been noticed, and not in a good way.

I am moving to Hoosick NY just one mile over the VT line, butvwas in NH for decades. I find a total mishmash of all 4 states travelling that east west corrider from Albany to Keene.

I can see no way for rh.
UNLESS we found some youth connection

 

[snooptroop88]

There are three (arguably) groups of victims jmho. There are those who were killed on site and left at the same site (Cathy Millican, Lynda Moore, 1978 and 1986 respectively). I believe there was an element of stalking/"hunting" of a kind with these killings in that the killer may have surveilled the victims before the murders and followed them to the CS.

There are the victims who were hitchhiking, so Bernice Courtemanche (1981), Mary Critchley (1981), and Eva Morse (1985). The remains of all these victims were found in the Newport area.

There is the group of victims who had vehicles of their own: Ellen Fried (1984), Barbara Agnew (1987) and the woman who escaped, Jane Boroski (1988). Ellen Fried had been on the payphone at Leo's with car recovered on Jarvis in Claremont, Ellen Fried's remains were recovered in Kellyville. Barbara Agnew was up skiing in Stratton, VT en route to home in Norwich, remains recovered in Hartford, VT. Jane Boroski escaped at the convenience store in West Swanzey.

I am guessing these are different killers. I think there are up to four, but there are at least 2. If I had to guess for one person for all these crimes, with all these somewhat diverse locations, and some of the crimes occurring on weekdays, some occurring on weekends in the summer, I would guess a shift worker of some kind, or someone with seasonal work. What about someone who worked at (or was in some way associated with) the centrally located (in terms of the murders) place like a ski resort/lodge, which is fairly close? Someone who at the time would be both living and working in the area. With that said, though, I am guessing that this may well be multiple killers, two to four of them. The only thing that makes me second-guess on this a lot is the idea that I saw something at one source mentioning a distinctive pattern/shape knife wound that may be common to multiple victims. I only saw that in one source, though, I believe. Also, another thing I've always seen is that SKs very seldom "bury in their own backyard," so it's more likely they'd leave some distance from the location where they actually live. (More likely, but not definite.)

There's no way I believe RH could do all of these, so let me emphasize again, just wondering about RH with Lynda Moore's case. And I'm not saying by any stretch "it is." I'm simply mulling over some things I've seen, and not yet completely dismissing it, MOO.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

There are three (arguably) groups of victims jmho. There are those who were killed on site and left at the same site (Cathy Millican, Lynda Moore, 1978 and 1986 respectively). I believe there was an element of stalking/"hunting" of a kind with these killings in that the killer may have surveilled the victims before the murders and followed them to the CS.

There are the victims who were hitchhiking, so Bernice Courtemanche (1981), Mary Critchley (1981), and Eva Morse (1985). The remains of all these victims were found in the Newport area.

There is the group of victims who had vehicles of their own: Ellen Fried (1984), Barbara Agnew (1987) and the woman who escaped, Jane Boroski (1988). Ellen Fried had been on the payphone at Leo's with car recovered on Jarvis in Claremont, Ellen Fried's remains were recovered in Kellyville. Barbara Agnew was up skiing in Stratton, VT en route to home in Norwich, remains recovered in Hartford, VT. Jane Boroski escaped at the convenience store in West Swanzey.

I am guessing these are different killers. I think there are up to four, but there are at least 2. If I had to guess for one person for all these crimes, with all these somewhat diverse locations, and some of the crimes occurring on weekdays, some occurring on weekends in the summer, I would guess a shift worker of some kind, or someone with seasonal work. What about someone who worked at (or was in some way associated with) the centrally located (in terms of the murders) place like a ski resort/lodge, which is fairly close? Someone who at the time would be both living and working in the area. With that said, though, I am guessing that this may well be multiple killers, two to four of them. The only thing that makes me second-guess on this a lot is the idea that I saw something at one source mentioning a distinctive pattern/shape knife wound that may be common to multiple victims. I only saw that in one source, though, I believe. Also, another thing I've always seen is that SKs very seldom "bury in their own backyard," so it's more likely they'd leave some distance from the location where they actually live. (More likely, but not definite.)

There's no way I believe RH could do all of these, so let me emphasize again, just wondering about RH with Lynda Moore's case. And I'm not saying by any stretch "it is." I'm simply mulling over some things I've seen, and not yet completely dismissing it, MOO.

Helpful post. thanks
.

 

[Beekarina]

One thing I have always wondered abut Lynda is if someone who was really angry with her husband. A former tenant, a former employee, someone looking to settle a score? My feeling is Steve is a nice guy, but when you are a landlord, a businessman, there are always going to be people who dislike you.

I'm sure LE looked into this, but since her remains were left in the family home and her murder was so violent/bloody, it feels to me as if someone wanted her family to come home that afternoon and find her.

If it wasn't Steve, it would have been her kids. What a horrible "statement", right?

 

[Beekarina]

I am moving to Hoosick NY just one mile over the VT line, butvwas in NH for decades. I find a total mishmash of all 4 states travelling that east west corrider from Albany to Keene.

I can see no way for rh.
UNLESS we found some youth connection

In those small towns, as a local though, back then? Flatlanders, and other terms that are even more insulting.

I moved away and had the experience of returning home and visiting family. Was parked on a piece of rural VT property, with my out of state plates.A group of young guys drove by, turned around and asked me "WTF are YOU doing here, you Name of State b*tch? Get out of here if you know what's good for you."

I told them to F off, that I was on family property. One of them took a good look at me, and understood.

I'm not trying to be difficult, just explaining that when you get out of Keene, etc. (which has also changed A LOT since the 1980s, even 1990s and now...wow changed SO much!) and into the smaller, backwoods rural parts of VT and NH, if you "ain't from here", you stick out FAR more than you understand.

All of these victims were local. Go look at the Facebook groups for example that are reading these threads. People there could confirm what I am saying. If you think you're blending in and you moved here from somewhere else? You're wrong. RH would have stood out absurdly so--his accent, his size, so many reasons. It is possible he could have come up here and killed someone, but I just cannot see him being responsible for all, or most, of these crimes.

A copycat killer also makes some sense to me. If you wanted to kill someone, and knew there already was a "CVK", then hey make your crime resemble those.

Also, if you knew the guy in Kelleyville was considered by most everyone locally to be a complete freak and weirdo, why not stash some bodies near his house and start rumors that he is the killer? Everyone would believe you.

(He certainly may have killed people--I have no idea. Just saying he also makes a convenient scape goat, behaving the way he does.)

 

[nhmemorymaker]

In those small towns, as a local though, back then? Flatlanders, and other terms that are even more insulting.

I moved away and had the experience of returning home and visiting family. Was parked on a piece of rural VT property, with my out of state plates.A group of young guys drove by, turned around and asked me "WTF are YOU doing here, you Name of State b*tch? Get out of here if you know what's good for you."

I told them to F off, that I was on family property. One of them took a good look at me, and understood.

I'm not trying to be difficult, just explaining that when you get out of Keene, etc. (which has also changed A LOT since the 1980s, even 1990s and now...wow changed SO much!) and into the smaller, backwoods rural parts of VT and NH, if you "ain't from here", you stick out FAR more than you understand.

All of these victims were local. Go look at the Facebook groups for example that are reading these threads. People there could confirm what I am saying. If you think you're blending in and you moved here from somewhere else? You're wrong. RH would have stood out absurdly so--his accent, his size, so many reasons. It is possible he could have come up here and killed someone, but I just cannot see him being responsible for all, or most, of these crimes.

A copycat killer also makes some sense to me. If you wanted to kill someone, and knew there already was a "CVK", then hey make your crime resemble those.

Also, if you knew the guy in Kelleyville was considered by most everyone locally to be a complete freak and weirdo, why not stash some bodies near his house and start rumors that he is the killer? Everyone would believe you.

(He certainly may have killed people--I have no idea. Just saying he also makes a convenient scape goat, behaving the way he does.)

Oh I know exactly what you are saying! For the past three years when I'm up there with FL plates
I do get stares
But I'm older so I think most just think me a snowbird. But I do not like that word at all.
Just wanna say I have really enjoyed all our chit chat about the local color
I think we are really just waiting and hoping we get info on the recent search. But still os fun keeping the thread going with all our connections to the area

 

[snooptroop88]

Correction! Barbara Agnew's remains recovered in Hartland, Vt, which is actually about 15 mins south of Hartford. Also seeing Barbara's originally from Canada, which is kind of interesting. Her vehicle was recovered in Hartford.

 

[Stephen2016]

I tried earlier in the discussion to provide some maps.

The convenience store where Jane was stabbed is outside of Keene, NH, and sort in seems in the middle of "nowhere". It used to be called Gomarlo's but when I drove past it last month looked quite different from my memory of it many years ago. ( Might still have the same name and just a major renovation?).

Anyway....there are a lot of apartments, homes and a large trailer park out that way and many young people would go cruising around if you lived in the area and turn around in the Gomarlos lot and then head back to Keene. I remember doing this myself, a few years after she was stabbed. None of us thought anything of it. I didn't even make the connection until looking into these cases.

Leo's Market still exists in Claremont. Look closely below. First, how close it is to the Police station, so seriously WTH how bold of the killer.

Second: note Route 103. See how it then extends and wraps through town? 103 follows Washington Street. Washington Street goes through town, it is the main shopping drag--small strip malls--and then dumps back out as Route 103/Joh Stark Highway. You could place it beside the map of the Sugar River trail I showed a few posts ago.

This will take yu back to Newport, past the house on Ayers Road again.

Let me know if unclear. View attachment 505978View attachment 505979

One thing I found interesting is that the Sugar river is across the street from Ayers Rd. and there is also a small piece of land across Ayers that abuts that river. Ellen Fried last seen July 22, 1984 remains found Sugar River Kellyville, and Bernice Cortmanche last seen May 30th 1984 remains found Cat Hole Rd Newport. Cat Hole Rd is near to Kellysville sort of, same general vicinity. Photo appears to be in Kellyville though watermark has Nashua on it , part of a collection. Seems the sugar river trail runs along the old railroad tracks in what use to be Kellyville. One can drive from Cat Hill Road down to John Stark Hwy/ 103. But the nearest Cat Hole comes to Sugar river is maybe 3 miles as the crow flies. And that Kellyville seems associated with Ayers Rd, Probably that is the boundary or something.

Bernice Courtemanche, age 17, was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m. on May 30, 1984 in Claremont, NH. She was reported missing the following day. Her skeletal remains were found nearly two years later, on April 19, 1986 just off Cat Hole Hill Road in Newport, NH. Though there doesn't appear to be a Cat hole Hill Rd, but Cat Hole Rd., Claremont almost right at the border of Newport. All and all near to Ayers and sugar river.

 

[Stephen2016]

We were DEC too. Merrimack and later Spit Brook Road.

I heard about some murders and killers, but I don't recall hearing about the Connecticut Valley killer until much later.

Seems everyone in that field worked at Dec. I worked in nashua also for a company started by Dec-ees that was bought by a California Company.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Seems everyone in that field worked at Dec. I worked in nashua also for a company started by Dec-ees that was bought by a California Company.

yep. Most of central NH and Southeastern NH worked for DEC at one time or another....
Great company to work for for a very long time. And then, not so much.

 

[carbuff]

Sunapee, Newbury, New London is not Newport or Claremont though. There is a real class divide.

You're not going to find tourists wandering around Newport, Claremont or Unity. Skiing at Mt Sunapee? Sure thing. In the summer, swimming at the lake--i.e. Sunapee State Park? Yes. People have summer homes there, including some famous people--i.e. Steven Tyler.

Saint Gaudens is Cornish, and you were likely that way to also look at the Cornish-Windsor (VT) covered bridge. It used to be the longest one, and it spans the Connecticut River. If you drove a bit longer on that road you would end up in Lebanon, and then you're minutes from Dartmouth. Again, another world socioeconomically.

RH knowing to dump the bodies where they were? Being in the locations/seasons where/when these victims were?

Makes no sense at all to me.

I think maybe there was/is an "Upper Valley killer", someone local to Newport/Claremont who killed the women found near the Sugar River trail (perhaps the guy in Kelleyville, or someone like him), and then someone else who killed Lynda and attacked Jane.

Also if the guy who attacked Jane had been from Long Island, she would have picked up on a NY accent. She had a conversation with him, remember?

Again, JMO. I grew up just outside of Saxtons River, and currently live in NH. Growing up in rural Vermont, we immediately noticed out of state plates. Having now lived in many different places, this is embarrassing to admit, but if you were cruising around in a vehicle with NY plates? You would have been noticed, and not in a good way.

Oh, I'm sure we stuck out as "tourists" and "outsiders" despite NH plates. But driving through Newport looking for a tourist restaurant, we would have just been "another bunch of tourists." If you had asked right away, somebody might have remembered our elderly Toyota or our cute daughter, but we wouldn't have stuck in anybody's memory for long.

I'm definitely not advocating that RH had anything to do with these murders. It sounds to me like it's highly unlikely. But I don't think we can rule out somebody from areas that are somewhat farther away, like southern NH, northern MA, Vermont, maybe even Connecticut. Maybe somebody who hunts or fishes and therefore has a reason to be on remote roads. Somebody working at Mt. Sunapee. A student, or friend of a student, at Colby-Sawyer.