Episode 126: The Mysterious Death of Irene Copeland
Katherine Irene McGreal was born to parents John F. McGreal and Ann E. Reiley McGreal on October 13th, 1905. She was born in the dining room of the family’s home in Somersworth, New Hampshire. Katherine “Irene” was one of seven children and her parents were Irish immigrants. The home was built by her parents in 1895 after the family moved from Chicago to New Hampshire after immigrating from County Mayo, Ireland.
Irene attended nursing school in New York City and after graduation she worked as a traveling nurse. She married William Copeland in September of 1929 and they had their first daughter a year later. They lived in New York and had moved back to New Hampshire in the spring of 1939. Soon after the move, William passed away from a heart condition he had been dealing with for several years. Irene eventually began working as a district nurse for Somersworth, requiring her to make house calls and provide any medical needs within the community.
On May 16th, 1950, the body of a woman was found face down on the ground off of Watson Road in Dover, New Hampshire. Two men, Richard Sirrell and Charles Wood, had left for work and were headed down Watson Road when they passed a “lover’s lane” and noticed an abandoned car. It was a Studebaker Coupe, and upon closer inspection they saw “Somersworth District Nursing” painted on the side. This is when they noticed the body. Police arrived on scene and observed that the woman’s skirt was pulled up over the top half of her body, exposing her naked lower half. On her left foot was a dark brown suede heel, and the right heel was near her body. The woman’s red purse was also nearby. Gauze was scattered around the body. Police found a half empty bottle of whiskey next to the woman’s body as well as some papers and a letter under a nearby tree.
The body was identified as 44-year-old Irene Copeland. Several months later, Irene’s cause of death was listed as "a result of poisoning by excessive intake of alcohol and some derivative of barbituric acid accidental and not with suicidal intent." Nothing more came of Irene’s death, until 1983.
On April 6th, 1983, Earl and Ruth Davis were doing some spring cleaning of their Somersworth, New Hampshire ranch home when they came across a steamer trunk that a neighbor had given them over 20 years ago. They opened the trunk and found the skeletal remains of five infants, each mummified and tucked inside its own hat box and wrapped in newspapers dating from 1949 to 1952.
Somersworth Police Department’s lead detective Patrick Boyle began investigating that same night. Over the next year Patrick was able to identify the original owner of the trunk, a woman named Shirley Thomas, who told police that there was a “baby snuffing ring years ago” and that the person responsible for the deaths of the infants was dead. Multiple people told Patrick that they believed Irene’s death was connected to the remains inside the trunk.
Many theories were circulated among the people of the town. Some believed that Irene was performing illegal abortions, some believed that she was part of an illegal adoption ring, giving babies that she helped deliver to the New Hampshire Catholic Charities, the organization that her brother was the head of, to arrange for adoptions. Others believed that her death was related to the recent death of Sarah Rollins, a wealthy woman who had passed away and who was rumored to have wanted to give Irene her estate. Irene’s funeral was attended by powerful politicians who she worked alongside, leading many to believe that her death was covered up. Just eight documents from the investigation into Irene’s death remain, also causing some to believe that her death was covered up.
To this day Irene Copeland’s passing is still regarded as an accidental overdose, but many questions remain about her death and the babies in the trunk. Patrick Boyle continues to seek answers. Anyone with any information on Irene Copeland or the remains in the trunk is asked to please contact Mike Gillis, a Dover local who is working on a documentary on this case, at mike@madeindover.com.
Image sources:
unionleader.com - “Irene Copeland”
fosters.com - “Baby bones mystery: Case still unsolved 25 years later”