Portsmouth's Unsolved Murders

Subscribe to Portsmouth Patch news alerts

There are four Portsmouth cases on the state Attorney General’s cold case list:

• Stella Bolton and James Moore, 1991

On Saturday, February 16, 1991 Stella N. Bolton, age 68, and James J. Moore, age 73, were found murdered in their home at 74 Rockhill Avenue in Portsmouth, NH. It was later determined they were stabbed to death prior to their house being set on fire. The fire was discovered at 1:30 a.m.

• Terry Giles, Joseph Poulin, and Linda Plummer 1986

On Saturday, October 11, 1986 Terry Giles, age 24, and Joseph Poulin, age 29, died as a result of a fire at their home at 314 Islington Street in Portsmouth, NH. A third person, Linda Plummer, age 39, died on March 30, 1987 at Massachusetts General Hospital as a result of burns received in the fire. This fire was determined to have been an arson. The fire was discovered on the morning of October 11th at about 3:25 a.m.

• Laura Kempton, 1981

On Monday, September 28, 1981 at 9:30 a.m., the body of Laura Kempton, age 23, was found murdered in her apartment located at 20 Chapel Street in Portsmouth, NH. The autopsy conducted by the NH Medical Examiner reported Laura died of massive head trauma, consistent with being struck by a blunt object, causing contusions and lacerations of the brain. Laura was a student at the Portsmouth Beauty School and was employed at Macro Polo, Inc. and Karen’s Ice Cream Parlor.

• Tammy Little, 1982

On Tuesday, October 19, 1982 Tammy Little was found murdered in her apartment located at 315 Maplewood Avenue in Portsmouth, NH. The autopsy conducted by the NH Medical Examiner determined Tammy, age 20, died as a result of massive head injuries. Tammy was a student at the Portsmouth Beauty School.