A couple is found shot to death in their home On a summer morning in 1974, a horrific discovery was made in a home on Old Route 16 in the small community of Center Ossipee, New Hampshire. Inside, 39-year-old Ellen Wilkinson and her husband, Maurice, had been shot to death. The couple's own child found them on the morning of August 16, 1974, uncovering a scene that would trouble investigators for decades to come.
There were no signs of a forced entry, suggesting the victims may have known their killer.
The scene within the house was tragically still. Maurice, who was 48, was found seated in a chair in the living room. An autopsy would later reveal he had been shot once with a 9mm weapon. Upstairs in her bed, Ellen had been shot multiple times. The couple's four children, who were in the home at the time of the incident, were physically unharmed. The brutal nature of the crime sent a shockwave through the quiet town and left authorities with a baffling double homicide.
In the nearly fifty years that have passed since the killings, the case has grown cold, yet it remains open. Investigators at the time were unable to establish a clear motive for the slayings and no suspects were ever apprehended. The case was left with few leads, and the trail eventually went cold. Today, the investigation is in the hands of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, which continues to ask for the public's help for any information that might finally bring a resolution to this long-unsolved mystery and provide answers for the family of Ellen and Maurice Wilkinson.
