The Fiendish Murder of Rita Bouchard

Murder, She Told

Kristen Seavey

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

1947 - Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 17-year-old Rita Bouchard was paranoid of being hurt or killed by unknown men. In 1947, an unknown assailant was violently attacking women on the streets of Pawtucket, RI, and Rita, who worked the late shift at the factory, was afraid she could be next. Sadly, on February 1st, 1947, Rita’s fear came true. A man walking a trail in the woods discovered her body under a tree. She had been brutally stabbed to death over 30 times with a stiletto knife. Police had no idea who did this to her. A month after her murder, police question a boy named Raymond Patenaude, the brother of Rita’s best friend. Again. He was already a potential suspect in their mind, but they didn’t have the evidence against him. Raymond told them of a strange dream he had, and came to the realization it wasn’t a dream at all, but a repressed memory… A memory of killing Rita. 76 years have passed since Rita’s murder, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be solved. If you or somebody you know has any information about the unsolved murder of Rita Bouchard, please call the Pawtucket Police Dept at 401-727-9100. Detailed sources can be found on murdershetold.com Connect on Instagram @murdershetoldpodcast and Facebook and TikTok @MurderSheTold Support the show here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Murder She Told, true crime stories from Maine, New England, and small town USA.
0:19.1	I'm Kristen Ceevy.
0:21.0	You can connect with the show at MurderSheTold.com or on Instagram at MurderSheTold Podcast.
0:31.0	Writa was paranoid. She kept to herself. She had a fear of crime. Despite this paranoia, though,
0:47.3	she had regular dates with different boys, including an older photographer.
0:51.7	Writa was just 17. She didn't drive and took public transportation everywhere.
0:58.3	She worked the night shift at the Rhode Island Fabric Company from 3 to 11 pm,
1:03.8	and this would put her out around midnight, taking public transit home. She would often run from
1:09.6	the bus to her front door and arrive panting and out of breath because she feared that she was
1:14.4	vulnerable walking alone at night. There were some other crimes against women in the area that
1:19.4	may have contributed to her fears. The newspapers reported a number of attacks on women in the year
1:25.8	leading up to January of 1947. In a sailant would drag women from the sidewalk into his car
1:33.2	and rape them. The latest attack was on January 26, a little over a week ago,
1:39.1	when a 14-year-old girl on the way home from a movie was seized and punched by a man.
1:45.2	She was able to fight him off and flee to safety. The assailant had not been identified
1:50.5	because he always wore a mask. By the end of 1947, Writa had moved out of her foster home
1:58.2	and been reunited with her brothers at the home of her aunt and uncle. On the night of Friday,
2:03.7	January 31, 1947, Writa went to work for her evening shift, leaving the house at 2 pm.
2:12.0	At the beginning of her shift at 3 pm, she collected her weekly wages of $34,
2:17.7	combined with what she had brought to work, about $5 or $6. She had a total of about $40
2:23.9	in a purse. At 4 pm, she asked her supervisor if she could leave for doctor's appointment,
2:30.0	complaining of illness. But her doctor, Gerald Carrey, said that he didn't see her that night.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kristen Seavey, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Kristen Seavey and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.