Newport evidence search related to cases linked to so-called Connecticut River Valley serial killer

The search for physical evidence underway Tuesday in Newport is related to the investigation into multiple cold cases popularly linked to the so-called Connecticut River Valley serial killer, News 9 Investigates has learned.Investigators began executing court-authorized search warrants on Tuesday morning in the Kelleyville neighborhood of Newport, including at a home on Ayers Street. There were more than a dozen cars parked along the dead-end street, and dozens of trash bags were seen piled up outside what appeared to be a barn. It’s not known whether the trash bags are related to the search.Officials would not say what cold case the search was related to, but sources said the search is related to a series of unsolved killings in the Connecticut River Valley in the 1970s and 1980s."These are court-authorized search warrants that are under seal, and we can't discuss what the cases are," said Senior Assistant Attorney General Scott Chase.There are at least two unsolved cases with ties to Newport, including the mid-1980s killings of 17-year-old Bernice Courtemanche and 25-year-old Ellen Fried. Courtemanche’s body was found on April 19, 1986, off Cat Hole Road. Fried’s skeletal remains, meanwhile, were found on Sept. 19, 1985, in a wooded area next to the Sugar River in the Kelleyville neighborhood.Beyond the Courtemanche and Fried cases, more have been popularly linked to a potential serial killer, but Cold Case Unit officials previously told WMUR they don’t believe the cases are connected. That possibility can’t be investigated fully, though, until one of the cases is solved, they said at the time.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<Julie Murray, the sister of Maura Murray, the Massachusetts college student who went missing in New Hampshire in 2004, told WMUR her family was aware of the search and said they are in close contact with investigators. Maura Murray’s case has not typically been connected to the unsolved Connecticut River Valley killings of decades prior, but in 2023, Julie Murray helped lead a group of victims’ families in demanding change in how all cold cases are investigated by the state.“And we did a big rally last summer for this because there hasn't been a whole lot of movement in these cases. And evidently, the rally may have (led) them to move forward with these cases, start reinvestigating them and looking into them and not forgetting about them,” said Jane Boroski, who was seven months pregnant when she was stabbed 27 times in 1988 in Swanzey.Boroski's case remains unsolved but has been popularly linked to the unsolved Connecticut River Valley killings. Again, state officials have never confirmed such a connection.Boroski, though, said state police called her Tuesday and told her about this Newport search and said it was related to the Connecticut River Valley killings."I'm trying not to get emotional right now about it because there have been so many people, there's been so many persons of interest over the years and no real suspects," Boroski said. "This was out of the blue today. I did not expect this."Officials involved in the search include members of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit working in conjunction with New Hampshire Department of Justice investigators, the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit, Claremont police and Newport police.Officials with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said the search activity does not pose a danger to the public and should continue throughout the day Tuesday.In a statement, officials asked that the public respect the privacy of residents in the search area and stay off private property in the area as the investigation continues.