Laura's senseless murder in her own apartment rocked the small city of Portsmouth.

Residents felt that if it happened to Laura, it could happen to anyone.

One woman told the Boston Globe, quote,

the idea that a young lady was brutally murdered within 100 feet of the police station really shocked people, end quote.

As the Globe put it, Laura's slaying shot a shiver of panic through the community.

This was because while petty and property crimes were commonplace,

New Hampshire had one of the lowest murder rates in the nation, according to the FBI.

Unsolved homicides of happy-go-lucky locals like Laura were not the norm.

And compounding the fear, while it was never officially confirmed by police, Rockingham County attorney Carlton Eldridge told the press that Laura had been sexually assaulted, saying he thought the community should know that there was a homicidal rapist on the loose.

This is a quote from Seacoast online. After a year had passed, police expressed their frustration

with the Kempton case, saying they had exhausted leads and still had no suspects. Not a month

later, on October 19, 1982, 20-year-old Tammy Little was found murdered in her apartment at

315 Maplewood Avenue. Let's talk about Tammy.

Tammy Elizabeth Little was found slain in her apartment located at 315 Maplewood Avenue in Portsmouth,

a year and three weeks after Laura Kempton was murdered.

The autopsy on Tammy determined she died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head

resulting in a fractured skull. Tammy had last been seen at 4.15 a.m. on October 16th,

1982 when her friends dropped her off at home. She was found around 6 p.m. on the 19th by her mother.

Unconfirmed reports say she was found in the bathtub, and the scene was bloody.

Like Laura, Tammy was young, petite, and popular. The two women both lived in first four apartments

in converted homes a mile apart. Both were aspiring models with headshots and portfolios.

Both women frequented the same downtown

...