Connecticut River Valley Killer | |
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Details | |
Victims | 7+ |
Span of crimes | October 24, 1978 –August 6, 1988 (Confirmed) |
Country | United States |
State(s) | New Hampshire, Vermont |
The Connecticut River Valley Killer, also known as the Valley Killer, is moniker for an unidentified American serial killer believed to be responsible for at least seven murders of young women in the Connecticut River Valley of the Northeastern United States between 1978 and 1988.
In 1985 and 1986, the skeletal remains of two victims were recovered within one thousand feet (300 m) of each other in a wooded area in Kelleyville, New Hampshire; forensic examination indicated multiple stab wounds. Between the recovery of the first and second bodies, a 36-year-old woman was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack inside her home in Saxtons River, Vermont. Ten days later, the remains of a third missing woman were found, also bearing evidence of stab wounds. At this point, investigators began examining prior homicides in the area and found two previous cases, in 1978 and 1981, that further reinforced the presence of a burgeoning serial killer.
At the peak of the investigation, and after additional homicides and one non-fatal attack, investigators noted similarities in modus operandi , often-used dump sites, and specific wound patterns that linked many of the murders, suggesting a common perpetrator. The murders apparently stopped in 1988 after a woman survived an encounter with the killer. A lead suspect in the case, identified by the surviving victim as her assailant, died in a murder-suicide in 2005.
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Delbert Tallman lights a cigarette as he leaves Windsor County Courthouse in White River Junction, VT., yesterday after being found not guilty in murder of Heidi Martin. Tallman, 22, confessed to slaying 16-year-old Hartland girl last May, but later recanted confession and blamed killing on another man. Tallman is accompanied by his attorney, Robert Keiner. his mother, Joan Gilman, follows.