Victim Laura Kempton. Credit: NH DOJ
A cold case homicide from September 1981 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been solved. No arrest will be made and no prosecution commenced, however, because the perpetrator died in 2005.
During the morning hours of Sept. 28, 1981, the body of Laura Kempton (age 23) was discovered in her residence in Portsmouth by a police officer attempting to serve a court summons. Investigators learned that Kempton had last been seen alive in the early morning hours, entering her apartment alone after a night out socializing with a friend. An autopsy later concluded that she died as a result of massive trauma to the left side of her head. The autopsy also revealed that Kempton was killed early that morning. Physical evidence was collected from the scene that, years later, revealed a male DNA profile.
Over the next four decades, investigators pursued hundreds of leads and potential suspects, but were unable to identify the perpetrator.
Identifinders International became involved in March 2017, when the only means of using forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) was comparison of the crime scene Y-profile to the Y-STR genetic genealogy databases to try to determine the last name of an offender. No name match was discovered for Kempton's assailant and no suspect was developed.
In 2022, however, new technology that yielded DNA allowing advanced FGG SNP testing to be performed using numerous DNA samples recovered from the scene in 1981. This genealogy analysis, combined with additional evidence that includes additional analysis completed in 2023, identifies the individual responsible for Kempton's death as Ronney James Lee. Lee died of acute cocaine intoxication at the age of 45 on Feb. 9, 2005. He was 21 years old at the time of Kempton's homicide.
"This case is a good example of how investigative work has tracked the development of FGG technology", said Colleen Fitzpatrick, President of Identifinders International. "Our initial FGG Y-STR work in 2017 provided a basis for later FGG SNP analysis.”
Based upon all of the evidence gathered during the investigation into the 1981 homicide of Kempton in Portsmouth, the New Hampshire Attorney General has concluded that if Lee were still alive, the Attorney General's Cold Case Unit and the Portsmouth Police Department would seek alternative charges of first degree murder for knowingly causing the death of Kempton before, after, or while engaged in the commission of, or while attempting to commit aggravated felonious sexual assault; and alternatively, for purposely causing Kempton's death by striking her with a blunt object.
"It is my hope that this conclusion and announcement will be the long-awaited first step in providing what closure the criminal justice system can provide for Laura Kempton's family and community," New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. "The Portsmouth Police Department should be commended for its commitment and perseverance in seeking justice for Ms. Kempton and her family. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the members of our Office's Cold Case Unit and all of our law enforcement partners that were involved in investigating and finally resolving this case."
As there is sufficient evidence to seek criminal charges, but no ability to resolve those charges because Lee is deceased, this case will be closed and identified as "solved," but without an arrest and prosecution.
Republished courtesy of New Hampshire DOJ and Identifinders International.