Facebook Pixel

Maine Cold Cases

Stay on top of all things cold cases, advocacy, and true crime with our twice per week newsletter

Maine Murders

If you would like to know more about the statistics for the number of murders in Maine by year, there are several law enforcement agencies’ websites that provide detailed reports. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issues a Uniform Crime Report year after year, as well as sharing archived reports on their website, which focus on detailing the types of crimes, statistics of the crimes, and the general region in which crimes are committed in every state. Additionally, Project: Cold Case has published a page dedicated to the statistics of unsolved homicides in each state.

According to this page on Project: Cold Case, between 1980 and 2019, there were around 1,297 unsolved murders in Maine, and over the years, approximately 1,033 of those murders have been resolved, yet leaving roughly 264 unsolved murders in Maine as of 2019. Project: Cold Case is also home to a database of unsolved homicides across the United States, which contains almost 25,000 cold cases and the basic information about each of the cases.

Some of the unsolved murders in northern Maine which can be found within several law enforcement websites, as well as Project: Cold Case’s database, include the following: the 1997 murder of Louis Alexander, the 1992 murder of Anthony Bear, the 2008 murder of Darrel Smith, and the 1988 murder of Barry Pulkkinen, among many others. Others included within these various lists and databases are some of the many unsolved central Maine murders, which include the 2003 murder of Alford “Buddy” Blake, the 1991 murder of Lorna Brackett, the 1988 murder of Janet Brochu, the 1981 murder of Pamela Campbell, the 1994 murder of Raynald Levesque, the 1971 murder of Judith Hand, and the 1990 murder of Shirley McAvoy, among countless others. In addition to those previously listed, one of the unsolved murders in Augusta, Maine, is the 2008 murder of Michael Roderick, among many others in the surrounding area. Lastly, a few unsolved murders in Kennebec County, Maine, include the following: the 1991 murder of Vincent White, the 1986 murder of Brian Kowalczyk, the 1979 murder of Thomas Huntley, and the 1987 murder of Everette Pease, among many others.


Unsolved Maine Murders

According to Project: Cold Case, there are currently approximately 264 Maine cold cases, as of their data’s last update. Many of the unsolved murders in Maine can be found within both Project: Cold Case’s database, as well as on the websites of local and county law enforcement and investigating agencies, as well as on the Maine State Police’s cold case page.

A few of the many northern Maine unsolved murders that are listed on various law enforcement and investigating agencies’ websites include the 1997 murder of Louis Alexander, the 1992 murder of Anthony Bear, the 2008 murder of Darrel Smith, and the 1988 murder of Barry Pulkkinen, among others. Other types of cases among the lists are unsolved murders Augusta, Maine, which include the following: the 2008 murder of Michael Roderick, among many others in the surrounding area. In addition to those previously mentioned, other unsolved murders Maine included within the many lists of cold cases are the many east Maine unsolved murders. These include the 1983 murder of Kenneth Kramer, the 1984 murder of Linda Maxwell, the 1977 murder of Lila Drew, and the 2015 murder of Kenneth Zernicke, as well as the 1993 disappearance of Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes in northeastern Maine.


Joseph Smedley
Joseph SmedleySuspicious Death, 2015
Asha Degree
Asha DegreeMissing, 2000

Consider this

More than 200,000 unsolved cases have gone cold since 1980, and murder clearance rates continue to drop. With equity for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underserved victims not prioritized in the true crime community—together we can do better.

Famous Maine Murders

Most, if not all, of the famous Maine murders that can be found on the list of murders in Maine within several law enforcement and investigating agencies’ websites may not initially sound familiar. Nevertheless, a handful of the names within the list of all murders in Maine, list of Maine murders, or even notorious Maine criminals may ring a bell. A few of the most infamous Maine murders, which remain unsolved today, include: the 1987 murder of Janet Brochu, the 2006 murder of Amy Drake, as well as many well-known disappearances based in Maine. These include the 1975 disappearance of Ludger Belanger, the 1971 disappearance of Douglas Chapman, the 1986 disappearance of Kimberly Moreau, the 1989 disappearance of Pamela Webb, and the 1993 disappearance of Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes.


Homicide Rate in Maine

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) released in 2019, the violent crime rate in Maine was approximately 115.2 per 100,000 residents of Maine. In other words, in 2019 alone, more than 115 per 100,000 people living in Maine were directly affected by violent crime, which can include assault, rape, murder, and burglary, among others. According to the same FBI report, the homicide rate in Maine in 2019 was around 1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. This means, in summary, that in 2019, nearly 2 out of every 100,000 Maine residents were murdered.

Augusta, the capital of Maine, currently has only around 18,700 residents, which is significantly lower than many of the other big cities in the state. In 2018, the violent crime rate in Augusta, Maine, was approximately 323.92 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the Augusta, Maine, murders rate was about 0 per 100,000 residents, which shows that murders in the relatively small city are very infrequent. Although we do not currently know how many murders in Maine 2021 or how many murders in Augusta, Maine, 2021 there are currently, we can look at archived Uniform Crime Reports which are released annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to see the general trend. Based on these archived reports, it seems that the homicide rates are slowly increasing each year.


Kennebec County Murders

Kennebec County, Maine, currently has a population of only around 122,000 inhabitants, even though it is home to Maine’s capital city, Augusta. While we don’t have an exact way to know how many Kennebec County murders have been committed in recent years, it appears that the number of homicides in Kennebec County is slowly rising every year, according to archived reports.

In most homicide cases, investigators are able to gather enough Kennebec County murders evidence to prosecute their suspected perpetrator with the crime, before bringing them to Kennebec County murders trial. The most common types of evidence that are included in Kennebec County homicide trials include DNA evidence, such as saliva, hair, or skin cells, as well as other types of evidence, such as weapons, witness statements, or cell phone pings or data. The most common type of evidence collected from a crime scene to be shown at the trial is Kennebec County murders crime scene photos. Crime scene photos are almost always shown during trials, when available, in order to show the jurors the physical layout of the scene, any physical details of the scene, and to show a summarized “flow of the crime.”

Augusta, Maine Murders

As can be expected, due to its relatively low population, Augusta, Maine, murders are much less common than those in other big cities in the state. A large majority of the murders in Augusta, Maine, that have been committed both in recent years, and those committed decades ago, have been solved, and police are continuing their investigations for the remaining unsolved homicides. As you might expect, Augusta murders discussion will constantly continue within various popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Reddit, and Websleuths. These websites are home to countless discussions where users share information and speculate regarding Augusta murders pictures, Augusta murders crime scene photos, and even Augusta, Maine, murders autopsy photos, all of which are very rarely released to the general public, even once a specific case has been solved.

In the past few years, the rapid advancement of DNA technology has been leading to the resolution of hundreds, if not thousands, of cases all over the world. Some of the many cases in which Augusta murders DNA, as well as DNA collected from other regions of Maine, was utilized in order to solve or to bring new information to the many unsolved homicides include the following: the 1976 murder of Blanche M. Kimball, the 1968 murder of Anita Louise Piteau, the 1983 murder of Judith Flagg, the 1990 murder of Lisa Garland, the 1994 murder of Tammy Dickson, and the 1976 murder of Janet Baxter, among many others.


Maine Serial Killers

Throughout history, Maine has dealt with more than a fair share of Maine killers. A few of the most famous Maine serial killers are often found within the various types of serial killer list, including Maine serial killer list, or list of serial killers in Maine. A couple of the most notorious or well-known Maine serial killers that are most commonly included within these lists are: John Joseph Joubert IV, also known as the “Woodford Slasher,” who killed at least three people from 1982-1983 in both Maine and Nebraska; and James R. Hicks, who murdered three people from 1977-1996 in Penobscot County, Maine.


Crimes in Maine

If you want to know more about the various crimes in Maine, along with their statistics, many federal, state, and local law enforcement and investigating agencies publish annual reports filled with crime data. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation publishes a Uniform Crime Report year after year, which shows, in detail, the types of crimes committed, the various crime rates, and the general locations of crimes in all 50 U.S. states, as well as many of each state’s counties and cities, including a report for crime in Maine.

According to Project: Cold Case, there were approximately 1,297 murders in Maine from 1980 to 2019, and as time passed, approximately 1,033 of those murders have been solved, leaving roughly 264 murders unsolved in Maine alone. Unfortunately, the number of Maine homicide and true crime stories in Maine seems endless. Nonetheless, several Maine law enforcement and investigating agencies are constantly trying to solve all of Maine’s true crimes, with every resource available to them.

Get Your Free Step-By-Step Citizen Detective Guide

Get Your Free Step-By-Step Citizen Detective Guide

Additional Maine Cold Cases

Virginia Sue Pictou-NoyesLexxi Tristram SironenMarilyn LehanChristopher WhitakerStephen WinesDerek PartridgeBeryl ReedHarmon RobinsonBernard RossJames TherrienDane AngelichRyan BlagojevicSiphat ChauBruce ElwellLawrence FarrellDarren LavigneAngel TorresRussell BurnettColin AreyLudger BelangerGuy CarmelPhilip LetarteTina StadigEverett LoveittLelena LippLeonard PriceLawrence RichMargaret TevanianJeremy AlexJeffrey HallJessie HooverJoseph JonesJohn MallochKaye MeyerJohn MillerKimberly MoreauKurt NewtonJason PowerMarisol HundleyMichael MadoreMelvin MurphyMack SturgeonGary BaylorGeorge BoardmanEugene Cross, Jr.Herbert DamonHarold FortierFranklin MarstonHarrison McLeanGlenn PattersonGilbert PettigrowHarold SimpsonGary ThorbjornsonFrancis TravisFeng ZhouDarin CrockerDaniel MillerDavid StortzDonald SmithChristopher CaramihalisCathy PrideCarl HarvisCathy MoultonAyla ReynoldsPaul BlancoPhillip FarrisRandall FullerMichelle JakaitisMiguel OliverasMichael PercyBaruch RobertsPauline RourkeAllen ThompsonRoy BickfordRichard Buckman JrRichard ColeRoger DayRobert DesmondRichard Drouin, Jr.Robert GilseyRichard HarosinRonald HaskellRaymond HodgkinsRoderick HothamRichard SalmanRobert SchultzeSharon BeaudoinSean ConeSebastian KelleyShirley AtwoodJael HilderbrandStanley KennardSteven OldhamStephen ThompsonStarlette ViningThomas HammondThomas JacobyTyler SawyerWilson BoyntonThomas ClarkeCynthia AnconaJoseph BichrestDouglas ChapmanNorman Closson, IIIWilliam McIntyreLawrence RobbinsFlorien TurgeonSwanton Wyman JrReeves JohnsonDiana EsteyBenjamin DayRoger DupuisRaymond GregoireRobert LittlefieldRalph MarshDouglas ReedFay JohnsonJamie MaloyRichard Morse, IIIAdam PattersonRonald Vallee, Jr.Jason ReilRichard DanisThomas GerryJohn HannemannShawn PerkinsGary SmallRobert SmithSteven WestlakeLouis Hogan Jr