Somersworth Baby Bones Murderer

Serial Killer

The Somersworth Baby Bones Murderer

Overview of the Unsolved Case

The name "Somersworth Baby Bones Murderer" refers to the unidentified person, or possibly multiple people, connected to the deaths and concealment of five infants whose remains were discovered in Somersworth, New Hampshire. Although the case is sometimes classified as an unidentified serial-murder investigation, authorities were never able to establish conclusively how every infant died, identify the children, or prove that one person deliberately killed all five. The disturbing circumstances surrounding the remains, however, led investigators to suspect that the infants may have been connected to an illegal abortion operation, an infant-killing arrangement, or a concealed series of unwanted births during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The mystery began publicly on April 6, 1983, when Earl and Ruth Davis were cleaning the basement of their home at 219 Route 16B in Somersworth. Among the belongings stored there was an old leather steamer trunk that had remained unopened for approximately 22 years. The trunk had been entrusted to the couple by a former neighbor named Shirley Thomas, whom they had known while living in Dover, New Hampshire. Thomas reportedly claimed that she lacked room for the trunk and asked the Davises to keep it for her.

The Discovery in the Basement

When Earl Davis forced open the trunk's corroded lock, he found several smaller suitcases, briefcases, boxes and a hatbox packed tightly inside. After opening one of the cases and lifting away newspaper and cloth, he saw what appeared to be the decomposed remains of a newborn child. The Davises immediately contacted the Somersworth Police Department. Police officers, forensic specialists, the county medical examiner and Strafford County officials gathered at the house that evening. As the containers were carefully opened, investigators discovered the remains of five infants. Each child had been placed separately inside one of the smaller cases or boxes. The bodies had been wrapped in combinations of cloth, newspapers, towels, plastic material and other household items before being packed into the larger trunk. The remains were severely decomposed, partially skeletal and, in some cases, partially mummified. Their condition showed that they had been concealed for decades. Newspapers found with the bodies included editions dating from 1949, while forensic and historical evidence indicated that the infants had died at different times between 1949 and 1952. No exact date of death could be established for any of the five children. ...

Confirmed Victims: (0)

Baby bones mystery: Case still unsolved 25 years later