New England's First Serial Killer: The Northwood Murderer

On September 24, 1872, 14-year-old Georgianna Lovering went missing from her home in Northwood, New Hampshire.

A massive search for the girl ensued. Her shawl and hair comb were found in an area where it appeared a scuffle had taken place. Searchers feared she had been murdered.

Later, her eccentric Uncle, Franklin Evans’ behavior aroused suspicion from the locals and he was brought in for questioning, eventually he confessed to Georgianna’s M**der and led the police to her body. The body was found to be mutilated with organs removed. Evans would lead authorities to the spot where he had secreted them.

Evans was tried and convicted of the Lovering M**der and sentenced to death by hanging. While awaiting the sentence to be carried out Evans began to confess to numerous other murders in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts - most notably the famous unsolved Bussey Woods Murders that happened in Boston in 1865.

This presentation will examine Franklin Evans and his murderous life as New England’s first serial killer through the use of period and modern photographs, maps, and newspaper sources.

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Host or Publisher Dover Public Library