Between 1978 and 1988, an elusive serial killer stalked the tranquil border communities of western New Hampshire and eastern Vermont along the Connecticut River Valley. Striking lone women near highways, parking lots, and rest stops, the perpetrator murdered at least seven young women with ferocious, rapid knife attacks. The unsolved series, known as the "Connecticut River Valley Murders," remains the most notorious cold case serial killer docket in northern New England.
The Serial Knife Attacks & Victim Chronology
The killings were characterized by sudden ambush stabbings targeted at vital thoracic areas, throat slashes, and body dumping in remote wooded hollows off Route 10, Route 12, and Interstate 91:
| Date | Location | Victim & Crime Scene Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 1978 | New London, NH | Cathy Millican (26) stabbed to death while photographing birds at Chandler Brook Sanctuary. |
| July 25, 1981 | Unity, NH | Mary Elizabeth Critchley (37) disappears while hitchhiking; body found in woods off Route 12. |
| May 30, 1984 | Newport, NH | Bernice Courtemanche (16) vanishes hitchhiking; skeletal remains found in Kellyville in 1986. |
| July 20, 1984 | Valley Falls, VT | Ellen Fried (26), nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, abducted from phone booth; body found in 1985. |
| July 10, 1985 | Charlestown, NH | Eva Morse (28) disappears hitchhiking near Route 12; body recovered in Unity woods in 1986. |
| Apr 15, 1986 | Saxtons River, VT | Lynda Moore (36) stabbed to death inside her rural home during daylight intrusion. |
| Jan 10, 1987 | Hartford, VT | Barbara Agnew (38), hospital nurse, abducted at I-91 rest stop; body found in woods. |