Police Field Calls About Alleged Confession of Kathleen Murray

A friend of Kathleen Murray's has reportedly given a statement to New Hampshire's Cold Case Unit about how she believes Tim Carpenter is responsible for what happened to Maura Murray in 2004. The story goes like this - Kathleen met Maura on Monday and Maura was driving her to a rehab facility in New Hampshire. But Tim Carpenter followed them to Rt. 112, where he raced ahead of them and braked, causing Maura's car to smash into the back of his red truck. Then he put Maura in the trunk of the Saturn while Kathleen drove further only to get in the accident by the weathered barn. Following the accident, Maura and Kathleen were put in the truck. Maura's body is said to have ended up at a landfill in Mass.

Where did this narrative come from exactly? According to evidence emailed to me earlier today, it comes from two women on Facebook who claim to be friends with Kathleen - Noelle Hallstrom and Melissa Bridges. Noelle was the moderator for a Maura Murray subreddit (she has trolled several people who have commented on the case). Melissa used to have a crime podcast and "befriended" Kathleen over Facebook.

Noelle has told people that this information was given to Julie Murray who instructed Melissa to go to the police.

I have a lot of problems with this theory, not the least of which is the time it takes to remove a body from a trunk and get it into a truck without being seen. And to then drive it into another state. I've met Tim Carpenter and the things he told me have checked out so far. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be vetted like anyone else who knew Maura. 

The danger of rumors like this is how fast they can be viewed as fact when people want a resolution. I think of the Lisa Pruett case and how a bunch of kids hijacked an investigation that nearly put an innocent man in prison. Here's a narrative started by an Internet troll as an idea that has now apparently progressed to police statements and calls for Art Roderick to assist the cold case unit on this lead.

We know the police took Kathleen's DNA to compare it to evidence found in Maura's abandoned car earlier this year. Now it seems we know why. It's important to remember that when crazy stories like this appear, they still have to do their due diligence to rule it out.

If you have any information about this case please contact the Cold Case Unit.