05-26-2013, 06:45 PM
On October 4, 1875, 17-year-old Josie Langmaid was absent from school – The Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, New Hampshire. When her parents learned that Josie never arrived at school, they organized a search party. At 9:00 that night they found the mutilated body of Josie Langmaid in the woods near the academy. The following morning they found her head, half a mile from where the body had been. The gruesome discovery tore the community of Pembroke apart.
![[Image: josie_langmaid.jpg]](http://www.murderpedia.org/male.L/images/lapage_joseph/josie_langmaid.jpg)
Date: October 4, 1875
Location: Pembroke, NH
Victim: Josie A. Langmaid
Cause of Death: Clubbing and Decapitation
Accused: Joseph Lapage
Recording:
"The Suncook Town Tragedy" - Paul Clayton
Synopsis:
Josie Langmaid was late for school the morning of October 4, 1875, she had been waiting to walk with a friend who never showed up. 17-year-old Josie usually walked to school with her brother Waldo who was a year younger. They both went to The Pembroke Academy, about 2 ½ miles from the Langmaid home. She left alone that morning but never arrived at school.
That afternoon, when her parents learned that Josie had not been at school they contacted their neighbors and within half an hour, everyone in the adjoining towns of Pembroke and Suncook knew that Josie was missing. A search party of at least a hundred men was organized to search the woods between the Langmaid home and Pembroke Academy. After dark the search continued, the men carried torches to light their way. About 9:00 that night Josie the corpse of Josie Langmaid was found, about half a mile from the school. In the flickering torchlight, the men could see that her clothing was torn and bloody and her body had been mutilated. Her head had been severed and carried away. Later, at the post mortem examination, it was determined that she had been raped and her vagina had been partially cut away.
The next morning the search continued. About half a mile from the spot where the body was found, the search party found Josie’s head, wrapped in her blue oilcloth cape. . Her face had been cut, and there was a mark on her cheek where the killer had dug in his boot heel. On the road nearby they found a broken, bloodstained, 3-foot-long wooden club.
The citizens of Pembroke and Suncook were outraged that a crime so heinous was committed in their midst and they were overwhelmingly frightened that the monster who committed it was still at large. A detective from Boston was brought in to help the local police and towns throughout the east began rounding up tramps on suspicion. A man named John Meyer was arrested in Lowell, Massachusetts, he had blood on his shirt and scratches on his face, and he had come by train from Suncook the day Josie was murdered. Another tramp was arrested in Raymond, New Hampshire, and a third in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Charles Moore, the only black man in Suncook was arrested on suspicion, only because he was black.
The first serious suspect the Pembroke police went after was a man named William Drew. The 24-year-old Drew lived with his wife in a shack in the woods, not far from the Langmaids. He had a reputation as a ne'er-do-well who allegedly made improper remarks to young women when he got them alone. Drew got word that the police were after him and left his home. He was arrested while walking on the road toward Concord, New Hampshire, and had to be protected from a lynch mob before being locked safely behind bars.
![[Image: Lapage2.png]](http://www.snakeoilgraphics.com/BlogImages/Josie/Lapage2.png)
The damning evidence against William Drew was provided by Miss Belle Lake, one of Josie Langmaid’s teachers. She claimed that Josie told her that Drew had insulted her in the street and when she threatened to tell her father, Drew responded “Don’t you tell him; if you do I will murder you and cut you into inch pieces.”
William Drew was sent to the Concord Jail for his own safety. Soon after Charles Moody, a friend of Drew’s was arrested as an accessory.
On October 8, the Suncook Selectmen received a wire from the Selectmen of St. Alban’s, Vermont. The wire explained that a year earlier, Marietta Ball, a young schoolteacher, had been raped and murdered in St. Alban’s under circumstances similar to the Langmaid murder. They were certain that the killer was a man named Joseph Lapage but did not have enough evidence to bring him to trial. Authorities in St. Alban’s had reason to believe that Lapage had moved to Suncook.
Investigationers determined that all of the original suspects – the tramps, the black man, and even William Drew and his friend – had alibis for the time of Josie’s murder. Belle Lake’s testimony against Drew had been a lie, possibly motivated by her personal animosity against him. Joseph Lapage was the only suspect that remained.
Joseph Lapage lived in Suncook with his wife and four of their five children. He was originally from Quebec and spoke very little English. Lapage worked as a woodcutter for a man named Joe Daniels who provided wood to power the steam engines in Pembroke’s mills.
On October 13, members of an investigative team commissioned by the Attorney General of New Hampshire arrested Joseph Lapage at his home. In his house they had found a bloodstained coat, and the heel of his boot matched a tracing made of the heel mark on Josie's face.
The French community of Pembroke was livid, claiming that Lapage had been arrested only because he was French, just as Charles Moore had been arrested because he was black. Joe Daniels, a leader in the French community, stated that Lapage had been with him at the woodlot the whole day of the murder, but Lapage had already told police that he had been lost in the woods that morning, unable to find his way to work. On October 28, a grand jury indicted Joseph Lapage for the murder, rape, and mutilation of Josie Langmaid.
Trial: January 4, 1876 - Concord, NH
The trial was largely one sided in favor of the prosecution. In addition to the circumstantial evidence against Lapage, a number of witnesses came forward who had seen Lapage on Academy Road, carrying a club or an axe, the morning of the murder and the Saturday prior.
Lapage’s sister-in-law, a woman named Julianne Rousse, came from Canada to testify. She told the court that five years earlier, Joseph Lapage had threatened her with a club and raped her in a cow pasture. He had been wearing a homemade mask. She pulled off the mask and recognized him. The mask was significant because a similar mask had been found near the spot where Marietta Ball was killed.
Lapage was found guilty of first degree murder. His attorney appealed the verdict on the grounds that the testimony of Julianne Rousse was not relevant to the crime for which Lapage was being tried. The New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed and the verdict was thrown out.
Lapage was tried a second time and again found guilty of murder in the first degree.
Verdict: Guilty of first degree murder
Joseph laPage
Aftermath:
Waldo Langmaid was devastated by his sister’s murder. They had been very close, and Waldo blamed himself for not being by her side that morning. In November 1875, Waldo came down with typhoid followed by pneumonia. He died on December 15, 1875 and was buried next to his sister.
March 14, 1878, the day before his execution, Joseph Lapage made his last confession to two Catholic priests of Concord’s French community. Before they left, the priests convinced Lapage to confess his crimes to the secular authorities. He admitted to raping and killing both Josie Langmaid and Marietta Ball and on a map he traced the route he took to the site of Josie Langmaid’s murder. He had not followed Academy Road but taken a shortcut across lots. Those who had testified to seeing him there had either been mistaken or deliberately lying. Lapage then pointed on a map where he had hidden some of Josie’s possessions. They were found where Lapage indicated, proving conclusively that Lapage was her killer.
Joseph Lapage was hanged in Concord, New Hampshire on March 15, 1878
The town of Pembroke erected a monument to Josie Langmaid near the murder site. It includes directions to the spots where the body and head were found.
![[Image: LangmaidMonument.png]](http://www.snakeoilgraphics.com/BlogImages/Josie/LangmaidMonument.png)
![[Image: LangmaidMonument2.PNG]](http://www.snakeoilgraphics.com/BlogImages/Josie/LangmaidMonument2.PNG)
Date: October 4, 1875
Location: Pembroke, NH
Victim: Josie A. Langmaid
Cause of Death: Clubbing and Decapitation
Accused: Joseph Lapage
Recording:
"The Suncook Town Tragedy" - Paul Clayton
Synopsis:
Josie Langmaid was late for school the morning of October 4, 1875, she had been waiting to walk with a friend who never showed up. 17-year-old Josie usually walked to school with her brother Waldo who was a year younger. They both went to The Pembroke Academy, about 2 ½ miles from the Langmaid home. She left alone that morning but never arrived at school.
That afternoon, when her parents learned that Josie had not been at school they contacted their neighbors and within half an hour, everyone in the adjoining towns of Pembroke and Suncook knew that Josie was missing. A search party of at least a hundred men was organized to search the woods between the Langmaid home and Pembroke Academy. After dark the search continued, the men carried torches to light their way. About 9:00 that night Josie the corpse of Josie Langmaid was found, about half a mile from the school. In the flickering torchlight, the men could see that her clothing was torn and bloody and her body had been mutilated. Her head had been severed and carried away. Later, at the post mortem examination, it was determined that she had been raped and her vagina had been partially cut away.
The next morning the search continued. About half a mile from the spot where the body was found, the search party found Josie’s head, wrapped in her blue oilcloth cape. . Her face had been cut, and there was a mark on her cheek where the killer had dug in his boot heel. On the road nearby they found a broken, bloodstained, 3-foot-long wooden club.
The citizens of Pembroke and Suncook were outraged that a crime so heinous was committed in their midst and they were overwhelmingly frightened that the monster who committed it was still at large. A detective from Boston was brought in to help the local police and towns throughout the east began rounding up tramps on suspicion. A man named John Meyer was arrested in Lowell, Massachusetts, he had blood on his shirt and scratches on his face, and he had come by train from Suncook the day Josie was murdered. Another tramp was arrested in Raymond, New Hampshire, and a third in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Charles Moore, the only black man in Suncook was arrested on suspicion, only because he was black.
The first serious suspect the Pembroke police went after was a man named William Drew. The 24-year-old Drew lived with his wife in a shack in the woods, not far from the Langmaids. He had a reputation as a ne'er-do-well who allegedly made improper remarks to young women when he got them alone. Drew got word that the police were after him and left his home. He was arrested while walking on the road toward Concord, New Hampshire, and had to be protected from a lynch mob before being locked safely behind bars.
The damning evidence against William Drew was provided by Miss Belle Lake, one of Josie Langmaid’s teachers. She claimed that Josie told her that Drew had insulted her in the street and when she threatened to tell her father, Drew responded “Don’t you tell him; if you do I will murder you and cut you into inch pieces.”
William Drew was sent to the Concord Jail for his own safety. Soon after Charles Moody, a friend of Drew’s was arrested as an accessory.
On October 8, the Suncook Selectmen received a wire from the Selectmen of St. Alban’s, Vermont. The wire explained that a year earlier, Marietta Ball, a young schoolteacher, had been raped and murdered in St. Alban’s under circumstances similar to the Langmaid murder. They were certain that the killer was a man named Joseph Lapage but did not have enough evidence to bring him to trial. Authorities in St. Alban’s had reason to believe that Lapage had moved to Suncook.
Investigationers determined that all of the original suspects – the tramps, the black man, and even William Drew and his friend – had alibis for the time of Josie’s murder. Belle Lake’s testimony against Drew had been a lie, possibly motivated by her personal animosity against him. Joseph Lapage was the only suspect that remained.
Joseph Lapage lived in Suncook with his wife and four of their five children. He was originally from Quebec and spoke very little English. Lapage worked as a woodcutter for a man named Joe Daniels who provided wood to power the steam engines in Pembroke’s mills.
On October 13, members of an investigative team commissioned by the Attorney General of New Hampshire arrested Joseph Lapage at his home. In his house they had found a bloodstained coat, and the heel of his boot matched a tracing made of the heel mark on Josie's face.
The French community of Pembroke was livid, claiming that Lapage had been arrested only because he was French, just as Charles Moore had been arrested because he was black. Joe Daniels, a leader in the French community, stated that Lapage had been with him at the woodlot the whole day of the murder, but Lapage had already told police that he had been lost in the woods that morning, unable to find his way to work. On October 28, a grand jury indicted Joseph Lapage for the murder, rape, and mutilation of Josie Langmaid.
Trial: January 4, 1876 - Concord, NH
The trial was largely one sided in favor of the prosecution. In addition to the circumstantial evidence against Lapage, a number of witnesses came forward who had seen Lapage on Academy Road, carrying a club or an axe, the morning of the murder and the Saturday prior.
Lapage’s sister-in-law, a woman named Julianne Rousse, came from Canada to testify. She told the court that five years earlier, Joseph Lapage had threatened her with a club and raped her in a cow pasture. He had been wearing a homemade mask. She pulled off the mask and recognized him. The mask was significant because a similar mask had been found near the spot where Marietta Ball was killed.
Lapage was found guilty of first degree murder. His attorney appealed the verdict on the grounds that the testimony of Julianne Rousse was not relevant to the crime for which Lapage was being tried. The New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed and the verdict was thrown out.
Lapage was tried a second time and again found guilty of murder in the first degree.
Verdict: Guilty of first degree murder
Joseph laPage
Aftermath:
Waldo Langmaid was devastated by his sister’s murder. They had been very close, and Waldo blamed himself for not being by her side that morning. In November 1875, Waldo came down with typhoid followed by pneumonia. He died on December 15, 1875 and was buried next to his sister.
March 14, 1878, the day before his execution, Joseph Lapage made his last confession to two Catholic priests of Concord’s French community. Before they left, the priests convinced Lapage to confess his crimes to the secular authorities. He admitted to raping and killing both Josie Langmaid and Marietta Ball and on a map he traced the route he took to the site of Josie Langmaid’s murder. He had not followed Academy Road but taken a shortcut across lots. Those who had testified to seeing him there had either been mistaken or deliberately lying. Lapage then pointed on a map where he had hidden some of Josie’s possessions. They were found where Lapage indicated, proving conclusively that Lapage was her killer.
Joseph Lapage was hanged in Concord, New Hampshire on March 15, 1878
The town of Pembroke erected a monument to Josie Langmaid near the murder site. It includes directions to the spots where the body and head were found.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
