Angles Snell

Serial Killer

Angles Snell: Suspected Serial Killer of Coastal New England

Background and Criminal History

Angles Snell was a violent repeat offender whose activities in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts eventually led investigators to suspect that he had committed several murders. Born in Tiverton, Rhode Island, during the 1840s, Snell spent much of his adult life around the coastal communities of Tiverton, Little Compton, Westport, Dartmouth, Fall River, and New Bedford. He became familiar to local authorities through a long succession of arrests and convictions involving assault, theft, illegal liquor sales, and other offenses. Snell reportedly made money by supplying liquor to fishermen and other men living or working near the shoreline. Contemporary accounts portrayed him as someone who sometimes took advantage of intoxicated customers by stealing from them after they had become unable to protect themselves. He was also accused of threatening people who interfered with his personal ambitions. In 1893, Snell was tried for allegedly setting fire to a barn in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, although he was acquitted of that charge. His personal life was similarly unstable. Snell had reportedly been married and divorced more than once, and witnesses described him as jealous, possessive, and quick to become violent. By the beginning of the twentieth century, authorities in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island regarded him as a dangerous man with an established history of criminal conduct.

The Murder of Peleg Cornell

On or about the night of February 11, 1902, 70-year-old Peleg Cornell was killed inside his home on Adamsville Road in Little Compton, Rhode Island. After Cornell failed to respond to visitors, police entered the residence and discovered his body on the floor. He had suffered fatal injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object. A knife was reportedly found nearby, but the condition of the house did not suggest an ordinary burglary or a prolonged struggle. The rooms were said to be generally orderly, there were no obvious signs that a stranger had forced entry, and nothing of significance initially appeared to have been stolen. These circumstances caused investigators to consider the possibility that Cornell had known his attacker and had willingly admitted that person into his home. Little Compton officials offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Cornell's death. Snell was investigated because of his familiarity with the area, his criminal reputation, and reports that he had made incriminating statements. He was never tried for Cornell's murder, however, and the surviving evidence did not produce a separate conviction. Later accounts stated that Snell confessed or claimed responsibility for Cornell's death, but the case was never tested before a jury. ...

Confirmed Victims: (2)

Peleg Cornell Age: (70), Date of Death: February 11, 1902

Angles Snell - Southcoast Murders