William Colao, a 67-year-old White male from Canaan, New Hampshire, was found dead inside his Sawyer Hill Road home after police conducted a welfare check around 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, August 17, 2025. Responding officers discovered him deceased, and the scene immediately drew investigators from the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit. The following day, officials confirmed that an autopsy determined he had suffered multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the head; the cause of death
was ruled a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was homicide. Authorities also emphasized that while the investigation was active, there was no known threat to the general public.
In the first days after the discovery, regional outlets reported on the heavy law enforcement presence at the property and the early timeline: officers photographing outbuildings and combing the grounds as neighbors described a secluded residence at the end of a gravel road. News accounts reiterated that the victim was found during a welfare check, that the death was immediately treated as suspicious, and that confirmation of homicide came swiftly after the autopsy.
As investigators worked leads, attention turned across the Connecticut River into Vermont. WCAX, citing unnamed sources, reported that Joel Gouin, 39, a transient man from the Rutland area who had been arrested the same night in West Rutland for an armed robbery, was also a suspect in the Canaan homicide. Vermont prosecutors held Gouin without bail in the robbery case while New Hampshire authorities continued their homicide investigation; as of early September, officials in New Hampshire had not announced charges in Colao's killing. Local reporting also noted that Colao's pickup truck was later located in Rutland County, a detail that helped shape the cross-border focus of the inquiry.
By late summer, the case remained officially unsolved. The Attorney General's Office and Canaan police maintained that the investigation was ongoing, offering few specifics beyond the autopsy findings and the reassurance that there was no broader public danger. Coverage in Boston and statewide outlets echoed those official updates, underscoring the brutality of the attack and the tight-lipped posture of investigators as they pursued leads spanning New Hampshire and Vermont.
