Episode 26: The Isles of Shoals Murders
The Isles of Shoals is a cluster of nine islands, split between the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire. Although each of these islands is fairly small, the history that lives between them is certainly large.
In 1873, the third biggest island, known as Smuttynose, was inhabited by only one family, who shared a simple red cottage amidst the 25 acres of land. John and Maren Hontvet, a married couple from Norway, had moved to the island in 1868. With John being a fisherman, Maren got quite lonely all by herself on Smuttynose, so eventually her sister, Karen Christensen, made her arrival from Norway as well. By 1873, John’s brother Matthew, Maren’s brother Ivan and his wife Anethe had all come to live on the island, as well as to help with John’s flourishing fishing business. The house was full and their hearts were happy.
On the night of March 5th, 1873, the three men were in the port city of Portsmouth, waiting for a shipment of bait so they could prepare their fishing lines for the next day. It turned out that the shipment, coming via train from Boston, was going to be delayed until the late evening or early morning. Opting to stay inland while waiting for the bait, the three men sent for the update to be delivered to the three women on the island. While staying in Portsmouth, John ran into a previous crewman of his- Louis Wagner. Louis had worked for John prior to his brother and brother-in-laws arrival, and his breakaway from the now-family business seemed amicable.
Upon learning that the island was going to be inhabited by just the three women for the night- Louis saw an opportunity to make some quick money, as he had fallen on extremely hard times and was barely making rent. He stole a dory and rowed to Smuttynose Island with the intention to steal some money. Unfortunately, he was caught off guard by Karen Christensen being asleep in the kitchen, and when she panicked and screamed, he took it upon himself to beat her bloody with a wooden chair.
Sleeping in the adjacent bedroom, Maren and Anethe awoke to the screams and were met with a scary sight- a beaten Karen and a dark silhouette of a man. Locking themselves in the bedroom and attempting to escape through the window, Anethe was met with a horrible fate- the perpetrator found the Hontvet’s ax and used it to start attacking the women. With some extreme luck, Maren managed to escape and hideout with the family dog until morning. After being rescued, it was obvious what had happened and the poor family was left devastated at the brutal murder of these two women.
Due to Maren’s first-hand account, Louis Wagner was quickly apprehended. Not only had Maren claimed it was him, but Louis immediately skipped town and headed to Boston, where he bought new clothes with the exact amount of money he stole from the Hontvet home. He was put to trial, and very quickly found guilty. Louis Wagner was hung on June 25th, 1875.
Image Sources:
wikipedia - “Isles of Shoals
murderbygaslight.com - “The Smuttynose Murders”