The most famous murders in New Hampshire span more than two and a half centuries, from a colonial schoolteacher hanged in Portsmouth in 1768 to the four bodies found in barrels outside Bear Brook State Park, whose final victim was not identified until 2025. The cases below are the ones that shaped state law, drew national coverage, or still sit open in the files of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit.
The Bear Brook Barrel Murders
In 1985, a barrel in the woods near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown was found to contain the remains of an adult woman and a young girl. Fifteen years later, in 2000, a second barrel roughly 300 feet away yielded the remains of two more girls. All four had been killed in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and for decades no one knew who they were.1NPR. 40 Years Later, the Last Remaining Bear Brook Murder Victim Is Identified
The killer was identified in 2017 as Terry Peder Rasmussen, a drifter who used multiple aliases, including “Bob Evans.” Rasmussen had already died in a California prison in 2010 while serving a sentence for killing a common-law wife.2WBUR. Bear Brook Murder Middle Child Identified In 2019, genetic genealogy identified three of the four victims as Marlyse Honeychurch and her two daughters, Marie Vaughn (about nine) and Sarah McWaters (about two), last seen in California in 1978.3New Hampshire Department of Justice. Identification of Final Unidentified Victim in Allenstown Homicide Case
The fourth victim, long known only as the “middle child,” was identified in September 2025 as Rea Rasmussen, roughly three years old when she was killed and the biological daughter of Terry Rasmussen and a woman named Pepper Reed. The New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit and the DNA Doe Project built a family tree covering about 25,000 people to trace her lineage.2WBUR. Bear Brook Murder Middle Child Identified The same work identified Pepper Reed, born in Texas in 1952 and not seen since the late 1970s. Investigators believe she is likely another of Rasmussen’s victims.4NHPR. Bear Brook Murders: Middle Child Mystery Victim Identified
Rasmussen is also suspected in the disappearance of Denise Beaudin, a 23-year-old Manchester woman last seen by her family on Thanksgiving Day 1981. She left with Rasmussen, then using the “Bob Evans” alias, and her infant daughter Dawn, whom he later abandoned in California in 1986. A formal missing person report for Denise was not filed until 2016, and her remains have never been found.5WMUR. New Hampshire Unsolved: Denise Beaudin The case inspired the podcast Bear Brook, hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Jason Moon, which has been downloaded more than 20 million times.1NPR. 40 Years Later, the Last Remaining Bear Brook Murder Victim Is Identified
Pamela Smart and the Killing of Gregg Smart
On May 1, 1990, 24-year-old Gregg Smart was killed in his Derry condominium. Prosecutors alleged that his wife, Pamela Smart, then a 22-year-old high school media director, had been carrying on an affair with 15-year-old student Billy Flynn and coerced Flynn and two accomplices to kill her husband so she could collect his $140,000 life insurance policy.6CNN. Pamela Smart Case Timeline
The 1991 trial was one of the first in American history to be televised gavel-to-gavel. Pamela Smart was convicted of accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and tampering with a witness, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Her accomplices, all minors at the time, pleaded guilty to charges related to second-degree murder and have all since been released. Smart is the only person still incarcerated in connection with the killing.7WMUR. Pamela Smart New Hampshire Petition
She has been denied commutation hearings by the New Hampshire Executive Council multiple times, including in 2005, 2019, and 2022. In May 2025, Governor Kelly Ayotte rejected another request, stating the case did not present the “exceptional circumstances” required.8WCAX. NH Governor Rejects Hearing for Pamela Smart In 2024, Smart released a videotaped statement accepting full responsibility for her husband’s killing for the first time.6CNN. Pamela Smart Case Timeline A habeas corpus petition she filed in early 2026 argues that her conviction rested on inaccurate transcripts of tape-recorded conversations with prosecution witness Cecelia Pierce. The State filed a 34-page response in May 2026 asking the court to dismiss the petition entirely.9InDepthNH.org. State Asks Court to Dismiss Pam Smart’s Latest Bid for Freedom
The Dartmouth Professor Stabbings
In January 2001, Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop were stabbed to death inside their home in Etna. The killers were Robert Tulloch and James Parker, two teenagers from Chelsea, Vermont. Tulloch was 17. Both pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.10WMUR. Resentencing Robert Tulloch, Dartmouth Murders
Parker took a plea deal that included his testimony against Tulloch and received 25 years to life. He was released on parole in June 2024.11The Dartmouth. Convicted Killer of Zantop Professors to Receive Resentencing Hearing Tulloch received an automatic sentence of life without parole under New Hampshire law, but the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama found mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders unconstitutional. Tulloch has been seeking resentencing since 2013, and a new sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 2026.12WMUR. Robert Tulloch Dartmouth Resentencing
Officer Michael Briggs and the Death Penalty Fight
On October 16, 2006, Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs and his partner John Breckenridge responded to a report of gunshots on Lake Street. They encountered a hooded suspect on Litchfield Lane who, after being told to stop, shot Briggs at close range. Briggs died the next day. The shooter, Michael Addison, fled as Breckenridge fired four rounds after him.13Death Penalty Information Center. Partner of Murdered New Hampshire Police Officer Now Opposes Death Penalty
Addison was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to death, making him New Hampshire’s sole death row inmate. The case was prosecuted by Kelly Ayotte, then the state’s attorney general.14NHPR. New Hampshire Death Penalty Capital Punishment In 2019, New Hampshire became the last New England state to abolish the death penalty when the legislature overrode Governor Chris Sununu’s veto. The repeal statute was not retroactive, leaving Addison’s sentence in place.15Death Penalty Information Center. New Hampshire Death Penalty Information
Addison’s lawyers have argued that executing him after the state abolished capital punishment would conflict with New Hampshire’s contemporary values. As of March 2026, the New Hampshire Supreme Court was reviewing the case following oral arguments and had not yet ruled.16WMUR. Michael Addison NH Supreme Court Appeal If the sentence is upheld and carried out, Addison would be the only person in the United States executed after the death penalty was abolished in his state.17WMUR. Michael Briggs Michael Addison Timeline
Breckenridge, who initially testified in favor of the death penalty, later changed his position, citing his Catholic faith and the possibility of spiritual redemption.13Death Penalty Information Center. Partner of Murdered New Hampshire Police Officer Now Opposes Death Penalty Efforts to reinstate capital punishment continue. In early 2026, House Bill 1413 sought to bring it back. Governor Ayotte publicly stated she would “like to see the death penalty restored,” but the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 13-0 against the bill, and the full House rejected it without debate on February 19, 2026.18News from the States. House Shuts Down Effort to Revive Death Penalty in New Hampshire
The Murder of UNH Student Lizzi Marriott
In October 2012, 19-year-old University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott, originally from Westborough, Massachusetts, was killed at an apartment in Dover. Seth Mazzaglia strangled and sexually assaulted Marriott after she rejected his sexual advances. His girlfriend, Kathryn McDonough, admitted to luring Marriott to the apartment. The two disposed of Marriott’s body off Peirce Island in Portsmouth, and it was never recovered.19NBC News. Kathryn McDonough Parole, Elizabeth Marriott Case
In June 2014, Mazzaglia was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. At sentencing, he denied committing the murder but acknowledged playing “a part in covering up her death.”20CBS News Boston. Lizzi Marriott’s Family to Confront Seth Mazzaglia at Murder Sentencing The New Hampshire Supreme Court unanimously denied his appeal for a new trial in December 2016.21NHPR. Mazzaglia Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of UNH Student McDonough received immunity for her testimony and was separately sentenced to one and a half to three years for hindering prosecution. Denied parole in 2014, she served her full maximum sentence and left prison on July 16, 2016, with no supervision requirements.22Seacoast Online. Kat McDonough Released From Prison
The Death of Celina Cass
Eleven-year-old Celina Cass disappeared from her home in West Stewartstown on July 26, 2011. After a six-day search, her body, wrapped in a blanket, was recovered from the Connecticut River near a dam roughly half a mile from her house.23Union Leader. Stepfather Charged With Murder of Celina Cass Suspicion centered on her stepfather, Wendell Noyes, whose behavior during the investigation included crawling on the ground and pretending to throw a grenade in front of cameras.24NBC News. Celina Cass: Arrest Made in Case of Missing 11-Year-Old
Noyes was arrested for second-degree murder in June 2016. In February 2017, a Lancaster court ruled him incompetent to stand trial and found that his competency could not be restored. The murder charge was dropped, and Noyes was committed to a state psychiatric institution after evaluators determined his mental illness created “a potentially serious likelihood of danger to others.”25NHPR. Man Accused in Stepdaughter’s Death Found Incompetent to Stand Trial
Historic Cases: H. H. Holmes, Josie Langmaid, and Ruth Blay
Herman Webster Mudgett, known to history as H. H. Holmes, was born on May 16, 1860, in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. The Mudgett family home still stands at 500 Province Road. He attended the Gilmanton Academy and eloped at 18 with a New Hampshire woman, Clara Lovering, before leaving the state. Holmes did not commit any known murders in New Hampshire; his crimes unfolded primarily in Chicago, where he ran a hotel outfitted with secret chutes, vats of acid, and a furnace. He is confirmed to have killed at least nine people, and before his execution he confessed to 27 before later recanting much of the statement. He was hanged in Philadelphia on May 7, 1896.26NH Magazine. Peering Into the Darkness: The First Serial Killer
On October 4, 1875, 17-year-old Josie Langmaid was murdered in Pembroke by Joseph LaPage. The New Hampshire Historical Society calls it “one of the most infamous murders in NH history.” Langmaid was buried at Buck Street Cemetery in Suncook.27New Hampshire Historical Society. Langmaid, Josie (1857-1875)
The oldest case still remembered dates to colonial New Hampshire. In June 1768, an infant’s body was found under floorboards in a schoolhouse barn in South Hampton. Ruth Blay, a 31-year-old itinerant schoolteacher from Massachusetts, was charged not with infanticide but with the capital crime of “concealment of a bastard child.” She said the baby had been stillborn after an accidental fall and that she hid the body out of shame. She was convicted on September 3, 1768, the same day her trial began.28We’re History. Ruth Blay After four reprieves but no pardon, Blay was hanged in Portsmouth on December 30, 1768. Twenty-five years later, New Hampshire law was changed to remove the death penalty for concealment, a reform her case helped inspire. She remains the last woman executed in New Hampshire.29Monstrous Regiment of Women. Ruth Blay and the Crime of Concealing Birth
Cases That Remain Open
New Hampshire’s Cold Case Unit, a partnership between the Department of Justice and the State Police Major Crime Unit, was established in 2009 to investigate homicides, missing persons cases, and suspicious deaths unresolved for at least five years. As of October 2025, its caseload stood at 126 open cases: 97 unsolved homicides, 16 missing persons, and 13 suspicious deaths.30Concord Monitor. From Unsolved Homicides to Missing Persons and Suspicious Deaths
One of the unit’s recent breakthroughs was the 1975 killing of Judy Lord, a 22-year-old found sexually assaulted and strangled in her Concord apartment. Investigators originally suspected her next-door neighbor, Ernest Theodore Gable, but a 1975 FBI microscopic hair analysis incorrectly excluded him. That forensic method was later discredited by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI. Modern DNA analysis of seminal fluid recovered at the scene produced a statistical match to Gable, and the case was formally closed on November 24, 2025. Gable had died in Los Angeles in 1987 after being stabbed during a street argument, so no prosecution was possible.31NHPR. New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Solves Judy Lord Murder
Prominent unsolved cases include the 1990 killing of Sheila Holmes, a 31-year-old mother of five from Barrington who was found strangled near railroad tracks in Dover on April 13, 1990, with blunt-force trauma to her head, multiple rib fractures, and a lacerated renal artery. Money she had won in a work contest the night before was still in her pocket. Edward Pehowic, a family friend serving life without parole for a 1996 murder in Portsmouth, reportedly admitted to killing Holmes at one point but later recanted.32WMUR. New Hampshire Unsolved Case File: Killing of Sheila Holmes Other long-standing files include the 1969 disappearance of 11-year-old Debra Horn from Allenstown and the 2010 death of Lynne Brennan, a Manchester woman found dead in her home, for which the unit released new surveillance footage in 2025.30Concord Monitor. From Unsolved Homicides to Missing Persons and Suspicious Deaths