The Connecticut River Valley Killings Part 1

Summary

Criminology Podcast: The Connecticut River Valley Killings, Part 1

Hosts: Mike Ferguson & Mike Morford
Date: June 15, 2025
Episode: 363

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Overview

In this episode, the Criminology hosts dive deep into the Connecticut River Valley killings, a series of unsolved murders and attacks that spanned two decades (1968–1989) across New England, primarily the rural, wooded area along the Connecticut River. Ferguson and Morford explore the cases commonly considered part of the series, as well as potential outliers, highlighting both the frightening patterns and the investigative challenges. This episode (part one of two) sets out to make sense of the connections, victims, and early theories, leading up to the emergence of a task force and a rare survivor’s story.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to the Series & Main Questions (02:15–04:27)

• Geographical & Temporal Context:
  The Connecticut River Valley area spans Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont; known for its natural beauty and historic towns.
• The Central Mystery:
  "Was there a Connecticut River Valley serial killer, or were these attacks unrelated?" (02:27)
• Nature of the Cases:
  The accepted victims are largely women found stabbed and left outdoors, with a handful of cases considered potential outliers due to method, location, or victim profile.

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Early Attacks: Chronological Breakdown

Catherine Milliken, 1978 (04:27–06:02)

• The Crime:
  26-year-old Milliken killed while photographing birds; found with more than 20 stab wounds.
• Significance:
  No links to her inner circle, suggesting “a harbinger of what’s to come” (05:11).

The "98% Known Victim" Statistic (06:02–07:55)

• Quote – Mike Ferguson:
  "98% of all murders are committed by someone known to the victim. That is a very high number." (06:06)
• Discussion:
  The brutality usually suggests personal motive, complicating cases involving stranger killings.

Mary Elizabeth Critchley (Betsy), 1981 (07:55–09:54)

• The Crime:
  College student hitchhiking; body found 95 miles from intended destination two weeks later. Cause of death undetermined.
• Reflection:
  The inherent danger of hitchhiking, which "was almost tailor made for, you know, a killer who’s out searching." (10:24)

Sylvia Gray, 1982 (11:05–12:48)

• Details:
  76-year-old widow stabbed and beaten, found near her own home—unusual for the series.
• Outlier:
  Both age and proximity to home set her apart, but some similarities in MO.

Series Complexity & Challenges (12:48–13:43)

• Quote – Mike Ferguson:
  "It would be very easy if all of the victims were... all stabbed with the same type of instrument. But that’s not usually the case." (12:52)

Heidi Lee Martin, 1984 (14:02–16:26)

• Circumstances:
  16-year-old found stabbed and drowned near a school. Evidence of possible redressing.
  A suspect confessed and recanted, later acquitted.
• Observation:
  The puzzling nature of false confessions in high-profile murders.

Bernice Cordemanche, 1984 (16:26–17:13)

• Victim:
  17-year-old last seen hitchhiking, found two years later, stabbed.
• Emergence of a Pattern:
  Mid-1984, police begin to connect missing and murdered women.

Ellen Ruth Freed, 1984 (17:13–20:16)

• Incident:
  26-year-old nurse, last heard on a payphone conversation with her sister, noting a car circling her.
  Found a year later, stabbed, likely sexually assaulted.
• Quote – Ferguson:
  "You couple that with the fact that she mentioned to her sister this car, right? Circling the parking lot. That becomes a big clue in the case." (19:46)

Eva Marie Morse, 1985 (22:48–23:46)

• Incident:
  27-year-old disappeared hitchhiking; her body found near where Critchley was located.
• Strong Connection:
  Two victims found within 500ft—hosts note this is likely the work of one killer.

Linda Moore, 1986 (24:48–26:28)

• Unique Case:
  36-year-old stabbed over 20 times inside her home in rural Vermont; only home-invasion case in the series.
• Eyewitness:
  Sketch developed from a neighbor’s sighting; man later ruled out.
• Hosts Debate:
  Whether this deviation in MO rules the case out or could indicate a "broken pattern" by the killer.

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Patterns, Investigative Complications, and the Task Force

Task Force Formed, Historic Connections (29:24–31:17)

• Investigators’ Realization:
  Multiple women found dead or missing within miles of each other.
• Creation of Task Force:
  Seen as a response to rising public fear and pressure.

Stephen Hill, 1986 (31:55–33:58)

• Oddity:
  Only male victim; stabbed 12 times, found relatively close to female victims but not universally accepted as part of the series.

Barbara Agnew, 1987 (33:58–39:43)

• Clues:
  Nurse abducted from a snowy rest stop; car abandoned with blood evidence, but mishandling of scene by authorities.
• Quote – Ferguson:
  "Why would that car not immediately be treated as a crime scene? … It seems like there was a number of missteps here, to say the least." (36:45)
• Result:
  Found stabbed under an apple tree nearly three months later.

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Survival and Police Frustration

The Attack on Jane Borowski, 1988 (39:43–50:55)

• The Attempted Murder:
  Seven months pregnant, Borowski is attacked at a vending machine stop, stabbed 27 times, but survives.
• Her Account (Memorable Quote):
  “I was just thinking, oh my God, why is this guy doing this? He wanted me to go with him and I was determined not to go with him.” (41:43, Jane Borowski)
• Aftermath:
  Despite severe wounds, drives herself to a friend's home; both she and her baby survive.
• Suspect Description:
  Clear description of attacker and vehicle given under hypnosis; police identify 300+ potential vehicles but make no conclusive match.
• Reflection:
  The rarity and chilling nature of a survivor's account in serial cases; Borowski later becomes an advocate and podcast host.

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Series Characteristics & Theories (50:55–53:40)

• Commonalities:
  Most victims: female, stabbed (often excessively), many found outdoors in wooded/secluded areas, some possible sexual assault.
• Quote – Morford:
  “The stabbings, the bodies being found outside… just seems to line up more than it doesn’t line up.” (51:52)
• Continuing Pressure:
  Community anxiety led police to err on the side of caution with a task force, openly recognizing a possible serial killer.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the statistical rarity of stranger killings:
  “Strangers don’t usually have a reason to be angry with you.” — Mike Ferguson (06:44)
• On the terror of random violence:
  “What’s more frightening, that you have one maniac running around doing all this or several?” — Mike Morford (13:44)
• On survivor Jane Borowski:
  “It’s just unbelievable... It’s a miracle that both survived.” — Mike Morford (46:00)
• Reflecting on police investigation:
  “It seems like there was a number of missteps here, to say the least.” — Mike Ferguson (38:31)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Case Overview & Main Questions — 02:15
• Catherine Milliken's Murder — 04:27
• The Known-victim Percentage Stat — 06:02
• Mary Elizabeth Critchley — 07:55
• Heidi Lee Martin — 14:02
• Ellen Ruth Freed — 17:13
• Eva Morse — 22:48
• Linda Moore’s Home-Invasion — 24:48
• Formation of Task Force — 29:24
• Barbara Agnew’s Mishandled Crime Scene — 35:18
• Jane Borowski’s Survival Story — 39:43
• Summing Up Pattern & Community Fear — 50:55

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Tone & Style

The hosts maintain a thoughtful, meticulous, and conversational style—presenting grim facts with respect for the victims and a deep understanding of the fears and frustrations both of law enforcement and the community. They actively question the limitations of police investigations, reflect on how difficult it is to connect or separate cases, and show particular empathy during the discussion of survivor Jane Borowski.

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Up Next

Part 2 will address additional possible victims and zero in on potential suspects, further probing the Connecticut River Valley killings.

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For discussion or feedback, join the Criminology Podcast group on Facebook or visit criminologypodcast.com.

Transcript

[A]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz and I hope you'll.

[B]

Join us for season four of Dateline Missing in America. In each episode of dateline's award winning series, we will focus on one missing persons case and hear from the families.

[A]

The friends and the investigators, all desperate to find them.

[B]

You will want to listen closely.

[A]

Maybe you could help investigators solve a.

[B]

Mystery missing in America. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.

[A]

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 363 of the Criminology Podcast.

[B]

I'm Mike Ferguson and this is Mike Morford.

[A]

Morph, how you doing this week?

[B]

I'm doing pretty good other than being a little bit cold in my studio here. How you doing?

[A]

I'm doing great. I'm drinking my coffee. You know, it's you and I tape pretty early in the morning, but it's my favorite part of the one of my favorite parts of the day is sitting and drinking my coffee. I love coffee so much.

[B]

Yeah, I'm right there with you.

[A]

Well, let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Nancy Ronzone, Angie and Brie Smith. So some great new support. We really appreciate it.

[B]

Yeah. Thank you so much to everyone that contributes to the show. It helps a lot. And, and for anyone else that would like to head over to patreon.com criminology and just a heads up for listeners, last week we let you know that we have a brand new website that you can check out. It's criminologypodcast.com this week we want to let everyone know that our YouTube channel is now up and running and you can find [e-mail] podcast.

[A]

All right, now that we have all that out of the way, let's get right into this week's case. We recently looked into the possibility of an active serial killer in the New England area. This week we're talking about a series of older murders close to the New England region, primarily in the Connecticut River Valley. None of the murders have been solved, leading to the question, was there a Connecticut River Valley serial killer or were these attacks unrelated? It's such a big collection of cases that we're going to roll out the first part this week and part two next week. When you explore both the cases that are commonly thought of as quote unquote, connected and the cases that have been mentioned as possible attacks related to this series, you find that this trail of terror spans two decades all the way from 1968 to 1989, the accepted victims that are commonly connected are those who people generally agree were likely killed by the same person. And then you have the outliers. Those are cases that are included because they're from the same area or general time frame. And there is enough to consider them as possibly being connected. And when a case is unsolved, you can't risk missing a pattern or connection. You have to look at everything. We'll discuss the cases chronologically, even though for quite some time the murders were not linked to each other in the media or by authorities. To understand the murders we're going to discuss, I think it's important that we get a sense of the area that we're talking about. The Connecticut River Valley. This is an area that overlaps parts of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. This area features a lot of beautiful and stunning views. Lots of woods and plenty of streams and rivers and picturesque shorelines. The area is great for hunting and fishing, and it's also a historic region. Within these areas, there are a lot of towns and cities. Some of them will be key to the cases that we're discussing.

[B]

The first commonly linked victim in the series was killed in 1978. But no one made a clear connection between all the cases until 1986, when multiple women were found dead in a period of just 10 days. Eventually, the cases were called the Connecticut River Valley killings, though authorities have never actually confirmed a connection. Since none of the murders are solved and many of them are extremely similar, it's hard to imagine that authorities are certain they are looking for different suspects in each case. But with no DNA in many of the cases, can they ever truly be sure? On October 24, 1978, 26 year old Catherine Milliken stopped at the Chandler Brook Wetland Preserve in New London, New Hampshire on her way home from work. She was there to take pictures of different birds she saw. The last verified sighting of her was around 5:30pm when she left Addison Publishing in North Wilmot, where she worked. Her body was found around 11:30pm the next night, just yards from where she had been taking pictures. She had suffered more than 20 stab wounds to her neck, back, chest, thighs and abdomen. This was a brutal attack, and based on the injuries Catherine suffered, it almost seemed like a crime of passion. But no one within Catherine's inner circle was connected to her murder. So right off the bat, we see a case where no one within Catherine's circle can be connected to her crime. And those are usually tougher to solve for police. And I Think this is a harbinger of what, what's to come in these cases we're going to talk about.

[A]

Well, morph, obviously we know that serial killers exist. You and I have profiled quite a few of them. But I was watching a show the other day, I think it was one of the shows that Lt. Joe Kenda does and he made a comment and I, I think the number he gave was 98% of all murders are committed by someone known to the victim. That is a very high number. So when you think about a murder like this, and you know, a lot of the murders that we're going to talk about, it's no wonder that police immediately start to look at, you know, those closest to the victims because by and large that's who most people are killed by, someone in their life, someone they know. And you think about the brutality of the attack and also kind of the personal nature. 20 stab wounds, that's up close and personal. Now, a lot of times that does lend itself to be someone who's angry. Well, who would be angry? Someone who knows you. Strangers don't usually have a reason to be angry with you.

[B]

That 98% stat that you gave is pretty interesting. It's pretty high as you mentioned. And it makes you maybe a little bit at ease when you go out and to the woods to enjoy whatever you're doing out there, whether it's hiking, camping, bird watching in Catherine's case. But you know, that 2% chance of running into somebody out there, that's got to be maybe in the back of your mind sometimes when you're out there and you're all by yourself.

[A]

Yeah, no doubt. And I think it's why there is such a fascination with serial killers, because by and large, they are rare. On July 25, 1981, almost three years after the murder of Katherine Milliken, 37 year old Mary Elizabeth Critchley, known to her friends and family as Betsy, was heading back to Waterbury, Vermont where she was a student. That day she had to hitchhike due to car trouble. She exited a car near Exit 13 of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Framingham, Massachusetts and vanished. This was the last time she was seen alive. There was no Internet back then, no cell phones. So it took a few days for Betsy's friends and family to be sure that she was missing. After this, her family hired a private investigator to try and find her. On August 9, just a couple of weeks after she vanished, Betsy's body was found off of Unity Stage road in Unity, New Hampshire, about 95 miles south of her destination in Vermont. Her body was still fully clothed, but her shoes were not at the scene. Due to having been left out in the elements, the medical examiner could not determine a cause of death. And because she was found across state lines and given the technology at the time, she was identified sometime later via dental records. Because these first two murders happened three years apart and 100 miles separated them, they were not originally found to be possibly connected. And here we have just another instance morph of somebody hitchhiking back in the day. And we know a lot of people did it, but we also know just how very dangerous it was.

[B]

And I don't know what the stats are for hitchhiking, what they were back in the day for, running into somebody bad. But probably you would think they're going to be similar to running into a serial killer. I think most people were just helpful and wanted to give someone a ride and not, you know, do what they could to help them out. I think most of them were not probably out to hurt someone or abduct them or murder them. But there were people like that. There were cruising around, unfortunately.

[A]

Yeah. And when you think about killers cruising around, you know, you're talking about a predator who is out searching. The hitchhiking scenario is one where someone is willingly getting into your car. And I hate to say it, but it's almost tailor made for, you know, a killer who's out searching. And I think that's, that's why it's so scary and it's why a lot of murders occurred with people who were hitchhiking. You know, the killer didn't have to lure them into the car. They were standing, let's say, on the side of the road with a thumb up.

[B]

And this case is a little bit different from the first one and the fact there's no confirmed cause of death due to the elements and decomposition. But I think they felt confident to say she was a victim of a homicide because, you know, she was relatively young, healthy, and to just die out in the middle of the woods when you're last seen hitchhiking a ride. I think it just, you know, screamed that this is a case of foul play to them. On Sunday, May 30, 1982, a 76 year old widow and grandmother named Sylvia Gray was found in Plainfield, New Hampshire in a field just a few hundred feet from her home. She had been stabbed and beaten to death. Sylvia had last been seen alive two days before on Friday, May 28, but on Saturday, when several calls to her home went Unanswered. Someone checked on her and she was gone. She was quickly reported missing. A search of her home by police revealed no sign of forced entry or robbery, although there were unconfirmed rumors that a ring had been taken from her finger. Police set up roadblocks and did house to house searches of the area, as well as offering a reward in the case, but they never found her killer. While there are some similarities in Sylvia's case to others we're discussing, notably her manner of death and the fact she was found outdoors, there are also a couple key differences. Most of the victims in this series were found in areas not very close to homes, but Sylvia was found a few hundred feet from hers, which was in the center of town and not in a secluded area. Additionally, Sylvia is much older than most of the victims in the series. For these reasons, she's only considered to be a possible victim in the series.

[A]

And I think that's one of the tough things about, you know, these types of cases where you have, let's face it, a pretty large number of murders in, in the same general area. First of all, you have to figure out, okay, are some of them connected or all of them connected? It would be very easy if, you know, all of the victims were 20 to 25 year old females, all had blonde hair, all were stabbed with the same type of instrument. But that's not usually the case. You have a lot of people who are killed. Sometimes the manner of homicide differs. You have large differences in age range. All of that makes it tough.

[B]

Yeah. When you have multiple people, several people, as we're going to talk about, it makes me think about what we often discuss. What's more frightening, that you have one maniac running around doing all this or several? And that's pretty frightening to wonder.

[A]

16 year old Heidi Lee Martin is not one of the commonly linked victims of the Connecticut River Valley Killer today. But due to her proximity and some of the details in her case, some people think she should be. She went for a jog in heartland Vermont on May 20, 1984 and never returns. Her body was found the next afternoon in the woods behind Hartland Elementary School. Heidi's clothes were on when she was found, but they were on backwards, indicating maybe she had dressed or redressed in a hurry or maybe that she had been redressed by her killer. Her bra was located a few feet downstream. An autopsy revealed that she had been stabbed four times with at least one of the injuries penetrating her heart and then drowned in the brook. She was found just on the edge of There were no signs of sexual assault, even though her clothes were on backwards. And there was plant matter found in her underwear. A 21 year old man named Delbert Tolman confessed to her murder, but recanted his story before trial. And he was acquitted of Heidi's murder. And in 1996 Tolman was arrested again, this time for lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. In 2018, he was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in Vermont, just as he returned to the state after serving a sentence for the same charge in Florida. It's clear that Tallman is not a good guy and is a confirmed sexual predator. But if he murdered Heidi, he was able to get away with it and morph. I don't know if he is responsible for Heidi's murder or not, but it is fascinating how many people come forward and confess to crimes and then later recant those confessions. Now were some of those confessions coerced by the authorities? Yeah, we've seen that happen. But there are also people who just come forward to confess and then later say they didn't do it. And that that is something that's pretty hard to understand.

[B]

And I think for investigators they've got to have a letdown because here's this guy with a sexual crime history confessing only to back out of it. And that, you know, they probably thought, all right, Ron's at the right path here, we've got the right guy. Then he changes his story and isn't claiming responsibility. So just more frustration for authorities. On May 31, 1984, 17 year old Bernice Cordemanche was reported missing. The last 100% verifiable sighting of Bernice was around 3:30 the previous afternoon in Clermont, New Hampshire. Though there are reports that she was spotted hitchhiking near Leo's Market, a convenience store located in Clermont. Her skeletal remains were found nearly two years later on April 19, 1986, just off Cat Hole Hill Road in Newport, New Hampshire, a town 10 miles east of Claremont. She had been stabbed to death. It was mid-1984 that some investigators started seeing a pattern of missing and murdered women in the Connecticut River Valley area. They began to wonder if there was a serial predator operating in that area. Then there was another murder. The victim was 26 year old Ellen Ruth Freed. She was last seen around 2am on July 22, 1984. At the time, she was talking to her sister Heidi on a payphone outside of Leo's Market near the hospital in Clearmont, New Hampshire. This was routine for Ellen and Heidi lived in California. The odd hour was due to Ellen's job as a nurse. Her shifts meant that she regularly left work just before midnight. And these conversations between Ellen and Heidi weren't short. Some articles mention the last call between them was an hour long. Others say closer to two hours. Whatever the case, at some point in this call, Ellen became nervous and told Heidi that she had seen a car repeatedly circling the parking lot where the phone booth was. Ellen then told Heidi that before she hung up, she wanted to make sure her car would start. She stepped away from the phone for a minute or two and then came back talking to Heidi for another minute or so. Finally, the sisters ended the call. Heidi never spoke to Ellen again.

[A]

The next day, Ellen never showed up for work. Her car was found abandoned on Jarvis Lane, locked with her purse still inside. There was no sign of Ellen. This location is a few miles away from the phone booth she had used to talk to her sister. Her skeletal remains would be found just over a year later, in September 1985, in a wooded area near the shore of the Sugar River. She was identified through dental records. An autopsy revealed that Ellen had died of multiple stab wounds and was likely the victim of a sexual assault. So, morph, I think we are seeing some similarities here. Obviously there is the locations, this Connecticut river valley. But here you have a 26 year old woman found to be stabbed, likely the victim of a sexual assault. Also, her remains were found in kind of a wooded area, a secluded area. Definitely some similarities with some of the other victims that we've talked about. And I think you couple that with the fact that she mentioned to her sister this car. Right. Circling the parking lot. I'm sure that that came out from her sister afterwards, during the call. Probably didn't seem that ominous. But, you know, once the person goes missing, to me that becomes a big clue in the case.

[B]

Yeah. And I wonder if her sister maybe regrets not asking more questions about what color it was or what are the person driving it looked like, any of that stuff. Not that she would, you know, have any fault. It's not her fault this happened, but she probably wishes that she could give more information to help find out who did this. But one interesting thing, two interesting things actually, that I noticed was that her purse was inside the car and the car was locked. You know, if you're someone committing this kind of crime, why not take her purse too, and maybe get some money out of it or whatever. And why bother locking the door if you've presumably abducted her? Why go through that trouble unless Somehow she. She was the one that locked her purse in there and went willingly, which. That would seem kind of odd and unlikely.

[A]

Yeah. I think it could lead investigators to believe that, you know, robbery wasn't a motive at all. This was more sexually motivated or maybe murder was the motivation. The one thing that jumped out to me was, you know, obviously we're talking about the early 1980s. There's no cell phones and these two sisters are talking on a payphone pretty much about as far as you can get right from the east coast to the west coast. And it said sometimes they talked up to two hours. I have no idea, morph, how much that would have cost on a payphone back then. You know, I think we take for granted today that you can pick up your cell phone or your landline for that matter, and just make a long distance call for essentially nothing. You're already paying for the. The cell service. That was not the case. You know, in the 70s, the 80s, long distance calls were very expensive, Especially an hour or two hour call. Yeah.

[B]

Not to mention calls of that length. She's out there in a dark, secluded area, and anyone driving by, if they're up to no good or looking for a victim, that's a lot of time to be out there and exposed to somebody like that. And, you know, you're. I would think this is an area where there's not going to be any witnesses. So if somebody wants to do something nefarious, there's a good chance they can do it and get away with it.

[A]

On July 10, 1985, 27 year old Eva Marie Morse, a single mother, disappeared while hitchhiking after work. She was last seen trying to head north on Route 12 in North Charlestown, New Hampshire. It's unknown exactly where she was headed, but this area was north of her home. On April 25, 1986, her body was found by loggers. And in the town of Unity, New Hampshire, 15 miles northeast of where she had last been seen, an autopsy revealed that she had been stabbed in the chest and neck area. The area where Eva's body was found was just 500ft from where Mary Elizabeth Critchley's body had been found back in 1981. With the second body found within 500ft of the first, it's hard not to think that the same person is responsible for both murders.

[B]

I think this second body being found so close to a previous body, this is the most powerful connection yet to me that this might be one person doing this, because we've talked about general areas up to this point, similar areas, but here we're talking within 500ft of each other. So how likely is it that more than one killer is just going to be dumping bodies in that little area? So I think this is the first sign we see of something that may indicate one person.

[A]

Yeah, I'm with you. We know that killers and, and you definitely have to include serial killers in that mix and sometimes prefer to dispose of bodies in the same area. They're comfortable with that area for whatever reason. And they go back time and time again.

[B]

This next case is accepted by some, but not all, who follow this case as being part of the series of murders. 36 year old Linda Moore was found dead in her home in Westminster, Vermont on April 15, 1986. She had been sunbathing and doing laundry that day while her husband was at work and the kids were at school. There was no sign of forced entry and it didn't appear that anything had been stolen. Linda had been stabbed more than 20 times and her throat had been cut. Linda's attacker acted in a short window of time at 11:45am a neighbor saw her sunbathing and everything was okay. Her husband called her at 1240 at home and Linda answered the phone. Everything was still fine. Shortly after this, he called again and there was no answer. Detective Michael LeClaire told the Rutland Daily Herald, I think she was outside sunbathing and was observed by her assailant, who stood from a distance to make certain she was home alone. He also went on to speculate that he walked into her house and she met him just as he came through the door and she was immediately assaulted. The scene was very bloody and it was clear that she fought back hard against the attacker. Although a stabbing death fits the pattern, the key reason why not everyone accepts this murder as part of the series is because every other victim we mention was found outside of a home. A witness in her case spotted a man near her home around that time and described him as a stocky man with glasses, in his twenties, and he was wearing a blue knapsack. A sketch of this man was circulated and and according to the podcast Dark Valley, this man was later identified, questioned by police and ruled out in the murder.

[A]

So, you know, all of these murders that we're talking about, they're scary. I mean, murders always are. You know, it's scary to think that, you know, someone's watching you while you're making a call in a phone booth, walking down the street. It's also very scary to think that someone is watching you while you're at your home now. She was most likely outside sunbathing. But that's a scary thought. We always think of home as kind of our safe place. But to have somebody walk inside your house and attack you, that is such a scary thought to me.

[B]

I think what's a little bit different about this case obviously is the fact that she was found in her house, which is why a lot of people think there's no way this is connected to all the other cases. But I can see a scenario where maybe this same person, if it, if it's one person, was out driving around and just saw an opportunity of a lone woman out sunbathing and maybe broke his from his normal routine and targeted her. So I don't think you can rule it out without, you know, at least considering it as being connected.

[A]

Yeah, I, I don't think the fact that she was found inside the home automatically rules it out. You know, the thing is here we're talking about, you know, kind of the middle of the day. This is not nighttime where it's dark. So it would have been pretty difficult and to me unnecessary from the killer's viewpoint to remove the body from the house. First of all, it's broad daylight so it's going to be hard to get the body out of the house without being seen. And why do you need to just leave? So it is very different, but the time of day is different too. So that I think could be why, you know, the killer decided to leave the, the victim's body inside the home. Let's say if it was the same.

[B]

Killer and if this daytime attack also resulted in a eyewitness description of a man who was later questioned by police. So, and this is the first time we have a witness to one of these crimes. I think committing these kinds of crimes during the day leads to a lot more possibility that you could be identified. So I think that's one reason a lot of this kind of stuff happens after dark when it's harder to see people and what they're doing.

[A]

By this point, detectives working the various cases couldn't ignore the possibility that the murders in that region were connected and possibly the work of a serial killer. A task force was created to investigate the murders and disappearances. One thing they found when they went through the history of murders in that area was that both Bernice Cordemanches and Eva Marie Morses bodies were found just one mile from where the body of 15 year old Joanne Dunham was found on Quaker city road in 1968. Her cause of death was asphyxiation, which didn't fit the pattern of most of the murders. But as Sullivan county attorney Edward Tinney II told the Valley News in 1986, it's a little weird. They're all found in the same area. Joanne Dunham disappeared on her way to school in Charlestown the day before her body was found. The task force would be busy not only trying to see if old cases may be connected to the series, but new cases would also have them scrambling to try and ease the minds of area residents. And more of any time. You know, I feel like you have a task force created that means a lot of people are worried. And how could you not be worried with, you know, so many women being found murdered in, you know, relatively small area? You know, I think residents would have to be scared a lot of them. And that add ups the pressure on the police, right, to figure out what's going on. And a lot of times that's where you get the task force.

[B]

I think the task force is a great idea because you can pull manpower, resources, go over all the details of all the cases and really just compile everything and condense it. And maybe that allows you to work these cases easier and maybe spot some commonalities, potential suspects that maybe, you know, crossed over across the cases. So it does seem to streamline things a bit. But it's also an admission or a confirmation by law enforcement that they recognize they've got a problem on their hands.

[A]

The next case we're going to talk about is that of 38 year old Stephen Hill. He was last seen on June 20, 1986, and in Lebanon, New Hampshire. After picking up his paycheck soon after, he dropped from sight and friends and family began looking for him. When there was no sign of him, he was reported missing. For a month, police looked for Steven. Then on July 15, almost a month after he vanished, Steven's body was found by two boys near heartland, Vermont in the Connecticut river. He had died from multiple stab wounds, 12 in all. The area where his body was found is roughly 15 miles southwest of where he had last been seen. The key difference with Stephen Hill is that he's a male victim and every other victim that we're talking about was a woman. But the way he was killed is why Stephen Hill is mentioned in this series. And, and some sources say that Stephen's body was found within feet of Sylvia's body. Now, we can't confirm exactly how close their bodies were to each other. Sylvia was found very close to her home in Plainfield, New Hampshire and Stephen Hill was reportedly found in heartland Vermont. And while these two areas are miles apart, they are relatively close. But their bodies being found in the same exact spot maybe a bit of an exaggeration.

[B]

When you look at the area on a map where Sylvia was found and where Stephen was found, you can see they are close to each other. But you know, being on the same spot as you mentioned could be a big exaggeration.

[A]

Yeah, I think saying that they were found within feet of each other is pretty hard when if they're found in two separate cities and states, even though they're relatively close together.

[B]

But it is interesting that they are close enough to want to link them together and you have another stabbing body found outside. The key difference being now we have a male victim, but when you look at the pattern, if he was a female, he probably would be part of the series without hesitation. I think the only thing that holds people up from saying that he was a confirmed victim in the series is that he was a man. 39 year old nurse Barbara Agnew was last seen around 10pm on Saturday, January 10, 1987. Some reports say that she was leaving Stratton Mountain Ski Resort and others report that she was last seen leaving a man's home whom she had a date with that night. What's clear is that she was heading to her home in Norwich, Vermont. She never made it there. Around midnight on Sunday, January 11, a couple hours after she was last seen, Barbara's green 1977 BMW was found by a snowplow operator parked in the parking lot of the White River Junction rest stop on Interstate 91 near Hartford, Vermont. This was less than 15 miles from Barbara's home. Although police don't know if Barbara is the one who drove it there, they estimated it was parked there less than an hour before between 11 and 11.30pm.

[A]

The abandoned car was not parked normally in a parking spot and the door was ajar, which drew attention to it. Inside the car there was blood on the steering wheel as well as the front and back seats. A bloody jacket, vest and sweater were found in a nearby dumpster. Barbara's wallet with no money inside was found inside the pocket of the jacket. Her skis were missing from the ski rack on top of her car. Outside of the car there was blood on the ground which had been covered by snow. Rest stop personnel contacted police and in turn the car was towed away. When the car was towed away, police were not aware that its owner, Barbara Agnew was missing, so they allowed it to be towed away. Barbara wouldn't be reported missing until Thursday, January 14, four days after her car was parked there. But Morv, I think, you know, we have to talk about this. You find an abandoned car, the doors open, it's parked oddly, the police are called in, and there's blood on the steering wheel and seats. Why would that car not immediately be treated as a crime scene? You know, whether you know the owner of the car is a missing person or not, you would think that you'd have to secure that car, right? You can run the plate, find the owner, figure out what happened. It's also troubling that her bloody clothes and wallet were found in the dumpster before she was officially reported missing on the 14th. We're talking from just after Sunday the 11th, when her car was found, until Thursday the 14th, when she's officially considered a missing person. And to me, this is troubling for a number of reasons. First off, there's the missed time, right? Those first hours in the first day or two, we know they're crucial. It seems to me that police should have done more in the very beginning once that vehicle was found. Also, why was this treated as a missing person's case as opposed to a probable homicide?

[B]

Yeah, those are all valid points. It's one thing to find a car abandoned. I'm sure that happens a lot at rest stops. Somebody parks it there, it's there for a while, you have it towed. That happens at airports, I think, a lot. But here you've got strange scene of the car parked incorrectly, not parked in the normal spot. And then there's blood on the steering wheel, the seats, clothes, you know, things are found nearby during that three day period. I'm wondering what's going on here with the police. Why are they not, you know, classifying this as a endangered person? And why does it take three days to be classified as a missing person? You know, when everything at the crime scene, the blood. That would make me think this is a possible homicide, not a missing person's case.

[A]

Or at the very least, we should immediately try to track down this, the owner of this car, right? I don't know. It seems like there was a number of missteps here, to say the least.

[B]

Over several days, there were searches done for Barbara, including the use of helicopters to scan nearby areas, but nothing was found. According to the Valley News, by March 14, police had conducted more than 100 interviews, but were no closer to finding out what happened to Barbara. The search for Barbara Agnew came to an end on Saturday, March 28, two and a half months after she vanished, hikers discovered her remains under an apple tree off Advent Hill Road In Hartland, Vermont, 10 miles south of the rest stop in Hartford. Barbara had been stabbed in the neck and stomach. The area she was found in wasn't easy to get to, especially in the snow. It was on a stretch of land with no houses in sight of it. Authorities believe that Barbara's killer had a large vehicle, possibly something with four wheel drive to get back to that area. It's also worth pointing out that this area is about five miles from where Heidi Martin's body, who we talked about earlier, was discovered in May 1984.

[A]

This latest death only fueled the fears of area residents and it was hard to think that there wasn't a serial killer operating in the area. Police were fearful that after not catching anyone for these murders that there would be another attack. And unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. But in the next attack, things would not go according to plan and the intended victim would fight hard to survive. And she'd live to tell her story. On August 6, 1988, 22 year old Jane Borowski was seven months pregnant. Despite being far along in her pregnancy during the middle of the summer, she didn't let that slow her down much. That day she attended the Cheshire County Fair and was driving herself home when she got thirsty. It was after 10:30 at night when she stopped at Gomarlow's Food and Circus on Route 110 in Swansea, New Hampshire, about four miles from the fair. The store was closed, but there was a vending machine with soda outside the store that you could use. After hours, after she got her drink, she got back into her car and cracked the can open. She took a sip and noticed that a vehicle was parking next to her. It was an autumn brown Jeep Wagoneer. The driver got out and walked behind her car to the driver's door. First, the man asked her if the payphone near the vending machines was working. Then suddenly, he opened the door and began to try to pull her out of the car. Instinctually, she fought back so furiously that she actually kicked her windshield so hard that it cracked. Jane was quoted by WMUR News 9 as saying, I didn't know what. I was just thinking, oh my God, why is this guy doing this? He wanted me to go with him and I was determined not to go with him.

[B]

Despite Jane's resistance, the man then pulled out a knife which scared her into listening to him. He ordered her to get out of the vehicle. The man held his knife to her Throat and accused her of assaulting his girlfriend. At seven months pregnant, this doesn't seem like something Jane would have done. And she had no idea who the man could have been talking about. The man was sure of who she was and gestured to her car, telling her had a Massachusetts license plate like the one he was looking for. But Jane's car was registered in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts. It had New Hampshire plates, adding to her confusion, but it temporarily de escalated the situation For a few seconds, thinking this was just an angry guy with a temper and a case of mistaken identity, Jane didn't feel like she was in serious danger. And at one point, the man did start to walk away. Amped up from the struggle and angry, Jane admits that she yelled at the man about her broken windshield as he walked away.

[A]

Jane yelling at the man made him angry. He walked right back to Jane and put the knife to her throat again. At this time, Jane saw a car driving on the highway and tried to make a break for it. She ran from the man toward the highway, hoping the driver would see what was happening, and stopped to help her. But unfortunately, the driver didn't stop. As Jane ran, the man tackled her and stabbed her 27 times. During the attack, her throat was cut, severing her jugular vein. Jane decided to lay still, waiting for the attacker to leave. And that's what he did. He slowly and casually walked to his vehicle, got inside, and left, leaving Jane for dead. Somehow, Jane didn't lose consciousness, and when she was sure it was safe, she crawled to her car and began driving to a friend's house that wasn't far away to get help. She wasn't only worried about herself. She had two lives to save, and the health of her baby was on her mind as she raced to get help.

[B]

After driving for about two miles, Jane caught up to a car in front of her, and she realized that it was the attacker's Jeep Wagoneer. She turned into her friend's driveway, and the Jeep kept going. Jane made it up to the porch, where her friend was at the door because he had seen Jane's lights as she pulled into his driveway. Her friend called for help immediately. Before the police arrived, Jane and her friend heard the squeal of brakes right outside. She knew it was the man who stabbed her. He was coming back for her, and she was terrified. Fortunately, her friend owned a gun, and he went outside with it, ready to confront her attacker, who was parked on the edge of the road. When the man saw Jane's friend was armed, he took off, and this Time, it wasn't slowly or casually. Instead, he raced away. First responders were able to arrive and give Jane urgently needed medical care. That miraculously not only saved Jane's life, but that of her unborn baby. Jane underwent an emergency C section and her baby, a daughter, had to be kept in NICU on a ventilator for two weeks. But she went on to recover. Today, Jane's daughter Jessica is an adult in her 30s, but she has some difficulties that can be attributed to the attack and more.

[A]

If this is the, you know, one of those stories that can give you chills, can make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I mean, you think about how frightening a situation like this would be and then couple that with the fact that this woman is seven months pregnant. So she's not only fighting for her life, she's fighting for the life of her unborn baby. And when you hear the details, stabbed, you know, 20 some times, her throat was cut and her jugular vein was cut. That can be in and of itself a life threatening injury. But this woman is able to get in her car and drive to a friend's house. I mean, it's just unbelievable, you know.

[B]

All the stab wounds and as you mentioned, the serious one to her neck, it's, you know, I look at it as a miracle that both survived and that she was able to stay alert and stay awake and not pass out. Even driving to her friend's house. She could have run off the road and hit a tree or something like that due to loss of blood, but she was able to make it there and, and get that help she needed. And I just think it's a, you know, really compelling story and she's able to tell her story after going through that.

[A]

Well, and that's the thing, right? A lot of the, the stories that we tell unfortunately don't have a good ending, but this one did. Now, what she went through was traumatic, but she lived, her daughter lived. Frankly, to me, it's just, it's amazing. Under hypnosis, Jane was able to give a detailed description of her attacker in his vehicle to police. Her attacker was a white male in his mid-30s to early 40s, clean shaven, 5 foot 7 to 5 foot 8 and weighing between 150 and 160 pounds. A sketch was created and circulated of the suspect. The vehicle he drove was a golden brown Jeep Wagoneer with wood panel trim on the exterior and his license plate started with the number 6, 6, 2. But Jane said the plate was too dirty to see the rest of it, it's not clear what state the plate was issued in, but it was possibly New Hampshire. Police found over 300 vehicles that might fit this description. And it's unclear if they personally questioned every owner they found. And we just got done talking about how amazing it was that Jane was able to survive this and drive her car to safety, given the serious nature of her injuries. This part to me is also amazing that she's able to give such a detailed description of not only the man, but, you know, his vehicle and even remember some of the numbers in the license plate, given what she went through.

[B]

Yeah, that's frustrating that giving them so much in the way of details, you know, half the license plate number, the distinct vehicle. It's frustrating that it didn't result in identification of this man and that Jeep. I think a lot of people probably know that what that Jeep is, it's a. The old 80s style wood paneled Cherokee, so unique looking. But at the time they, they were very popular too. So it's, it wasn't like there would only be one in the area. And as we said, police found 300 potential vehicles that might fit. But we don't know if they question every person and if so, what the outcomes were.

[A]

The only thing that I think would have given police trouble is, you know, when you look at the description of her attacker, there is a lot of people, a lot of men who would fit that description. 30s to 40s, 5, 7 to 5, 8, 150, 160 pounds. There's, there's a lot of people in that category. It also sounds very similar to a lot of the serial killer profiles that come out from the FBI. Right. White male, 30s to 40s.

[B]

Despite it not revealing a suspect or not leading to a suspect, it does give some clues to work with. You know, for example, if they have a suspect that's 6 foot 4, 230 pounds, they can comfortably move that person to the back burner. You know, if they have someone that just doesn't fit in any way with the description, they can be, you know, moved back. So I think this at least narrowed it down a little bit for police, but still probably, as we mentioned, not an easy job. Either way. Jane and her baby had survived. But as they recovered, Jane faced a frightening and new nightmare. When she realized that her name and face had been splashed all over TV news and newspapers. She knew that her attacker could use her name and any other information from these articles to perhaps track her down and finish the job. Fortunately for Jane and her Daughter. The man that brutally attacked her and left her for dead never did find her and come after her. She went on to become an advocate for mental health and ptsd and she hosts the podcast Invisible Tears. She's the only victim believed to have survived an attack in the Connecticut River Valley killing series.

[A]

So, as we wrap up this first episode, morph, we went through a number of attacks and in many of them you can see the similarities. We did talk about one male, but the majority of victims that we talked about were female. A large number of stab wounds. In a lot of cases they were sexually assaulted. Some victims were found within close proximity of others. So, I mean, I don't think it's that hard to figure out why a lot of people think that there was a serial killer and that at least some of these victims can be grouped together.

[B]

We mentioned at the beginning of this episode that we had recently covered the New England cases recently where there's a question if there's a serial killer. But in those cases, we have all kinds of different manners of death, different circumstances. Whereas in this series there's a lot more overlap of things that seem to match. You know, in particular the stabbings, the bodies being found outside, all that stuff. It just seems to line up more than it doesn't line up. And I think all that could make things easier for the police because then they, if they assume that a lot of these cases may be connected, maybe they can cross reference different things from each case and find a clue that pops out.

[A]

Yeah, that's true. But what I also think it does is it puts even more pressure on the police. Right. You always have pressure anytime someone is murdered to solve that murder. But when people think that there's a serial killer out there and that a lot of these murders are connected, that definitely ups the pressure. And I think you see that in the fact that, you know, fairly early on a task force was created. And that's, to me, the police reacting to the pressure. They've got to figure out what's going on. They got to try to solve these and find the killer or killers.

[B]

And I think in this case, the police couldn't, for the well being of the public, couldn't say there's nothing to worry about. This is an isolated incident. I think they, they had to err on the side of caution and put that task force together to try and get answers here and at least identify one or more people that could be committing these crimes.

[A]

So that's it for our part. One of the Connecticut River Valley killings next week in Part two, we'll discuss a couple of more possible victims in the series and we'll also take a look at some potential suspects in the case. But as always, if you love the show and haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, give us a rating, leave a review. Also, keep telling your friends. Word of mouth about the Criminology Podcast really helps us out if you want.

[B]

To find us on social media. We're pretty much everywhere. So go to your favorite social media platform and search for Criminology Podcast. As as I mentioned earlier, we're on YouTube. We have our own website, criminologypodcast.com find us in any of the spots. And if you want to join a discussion with other listeners, head over to facebook.com and look for our discussion group Criminology Podcast Discussion and Fans So that's.

[A]

It for another episode of Criminology. But Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then, for Mike and Morph, we'll talk to you next week.

[B]

Take care everyone.

[A]

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