1990-91 Woonsocket, RI Unsolved Murders

[MegtheEgg86]

Hey, guys. This afternoon I bought a copy of Michael Newton's Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes and an entry with a familiar place name caught my eye---Woonsocket, Rhode Island:

Suspects remain elusive in the case of three Woonsocket women found strangled to death between December 1990 and March 1991. Local police report that 32-year-old Dianne Goulet, 18-year-old Christine Miller, and 23-year-old Wendy Madden all died in similar fashion, all with records of arrest on drug and prostitution charges. A report issued on March 22, 1991, declared that authorities were examining certain unspecified links in the series of murders, but no further leads have been announced since that date, and the case remains open.


Have any of you all by chance heard of any updates on that? The book was published a few years back (it actually lists the BTK murders as unsolved), so I'm unsure if anything has surfaced since then. I doubt they're related to the Picard/Laferte case as the profiles of the victims and the killer's MO don't match up between the two, although I guess it's still possible Raymond Tempest could have done it. I know it's kind of obscure, but given the websleuthing abilities on this board I thought I'd put it out there.


Also....what the heck is up with Woonsocket?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...in_woonsocket/

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Hey, guys. This afternoon I bought a copy of Michael Newton's Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes and an entry with a familiar place name caught my eye---Woonsocket, Rhode Island:

Suspects remain elusive in the case of three Woonsocket women found strangled to death between December 1990 and March 1991. Local police report that 32-year-old Dianne Goulet, 18-year-old Christine Miller, and 23-year-old Wendy Madden all died in similar fashion, all with records of arrest on drug and prostitution charges. A report issued on March 22, 1991, declared that authorities were examining certain unspecified links in the series of murders, but no further leads have been announced since that date, and the case remains open.


Have any of you all by chance heard of any updates on that? The book was published a few years back (it actually lists the BTK murders as unsolved), so I'm unsure if anything has surfaced since then. I doubt they're related to the Picard/Laferte case as the profiles of the victims and the killer's MO don't match up between the two, although I guess it's still possible Raymond Tempest could have done it. I know it's kind of obscure, but given the websleuthing abilities on this board I thought I'd put it out there.


Also....what the heck is up with Woonsocket?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...in_woonsocket/

Sounds like an interesting book. I had never heard of those cases and couldn't find anything online about them. Actually after seeing a documentary and doing some reading on the attack of Doreen Picard and Susan Laferte I am convinced (as well as many others) that Raymond Tempest is not responsible for the attack. In the documentary I watched called "Guilty or Innocent" there were several things that were called in to question but a few things are that Tempest's wife was actually best friends with Susan Laferte. Surely the little girl who let the man in would have known if it were Raymond as she knew him. I can't remember the name but there is someone out there who many people think is responsible for the attack. In fact I believe this man was even present at a get together where the Laferte's attended and the little girl seemed terrified when she saw him. If you want to read up more here is a website with some more info:

http://www.caught.net/cases/beaver1.htm

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

Sounds like an interesting book. I had never heard of those cases and couldn't find anything online about them. Actually after seeing a documentary and doing some reading on the attack of Doreen Picard and Susan Laferte I am convinced (as well as many others) that Raymond Tempest is not responsible for the attack. In the documentary I watched called "Guilty or Innocent" there were several things that were called in to question but a few things are that Tempest's wife was actually best friends with Susan Laferte. Surely the little girl who let the man in would have known if it were Raymond as she knew him. I can't remember the name but there is someone out there who many people think is responsible for the attack. In fact I believe this man was even present at a get together where the Laferte's attended and the little girl seemed terrified when she saw him. If you want to read up more here is a website with some more info:

http://www.caught.net/cases/beaver1.htm

Thanks for the link! I never knew there was strong evidence to suggest Tempest experienced a miscarriage of justice; just that he was convicted of Picard's murder and Laferte's attack. If that's the case, then there's certainly a better possibility that maybe...maybe...the same individual may be responsible for the 1990 and '91 murders as well. It's kind of a long shot, but with Woonsocket being a relatively small town (I think I read that it's like the sixth largest in Rhode Island, which isn't saying too much), maybe it's possible?

[Steve W.]

I know, I'm bumping an old thread.

I saw something about this case recently which re-peaked my interest in it. I'm glad that the murderer at least left the little girl (Susan Laferte's daughter Nicole, who was said to be 3 years old at the time) alone, as she supposedly opened the front door of the apartment for him when he arrived by knocking or ringing the doorbell. He could have very easily done something to her as well, but I'm glad that didn't happen.


"I can't remember the name but there is someone out there who many people think is responsible for the attack. In fact I believe this man was even present at a get together where the Laferte's attended and the little girl seemed terrified when she saw him. If you want to read up more here is a website with some more info:

http://www.caught.net/cases/beaver1.htm"


I read through most of everything on that website and I'm 99.9% sure that Donald Degasse (the man's name that slipped your mind) is the person who attacked Doreen Picard (murdering her) and Susan Laferte, not Raymond "Beaver" Tempest. Why the Woonsocket police department have been so resistant to arrest Degasse and were so gung-ho about getting Tempest sent to prison for this crime is beyond me.

[preciousmonkey2]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Hey, guys. This afternoon I bought a copy of Michael Newton's Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes and an entry with a familiar place name caught my eye---Woonsocket, Rhode Island:

Suspects remain elusive in the case of three Woonsocket women found strangled to death between December 1990 and March 1991. Local police report that 32-year-old Dianne Goulet, 18-year-old Christine Miller, and 23-year-old Wendy Madden all died in similar fashion, all with records of arrest on drug and prostitution charges. A report issued on March 22, 1991, declared that authorities were examining certain unspecified links in the series of murders, but no further leads have been announced since that date, and the case remains open.


Have any of you all by chance heard of any updates on that? The book was published a few years back (it actually lists the BTK murders as unsolved), so I'm unsure if anything has surfaced since then. I doubt they're related to the Picard/Laferte case as the profiles of the victims and the killer's MO don't match up between the two, although I guess it's still possible Raymond Tempest could have done it. I know it's kind of obscure, but given the websleuthing abilities on this board I thought I'd put it out there.


Also....what the heck is up with Woonsocket?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...in_woonsocket/

Originally Posted by preciousmonkey2

Hi, my name is Tracy and Wendy was my cousin. I just finished reading your post about unsolved murders. The book seems like a nice read. However there are alot of facts left out when it comes to my cousins murder. Wendy did stay in Woonsocket, RI for a brief period prior to her murder. She lived there with her mother. Wendy was not killed in Woonsocket. In fact her body was found in Pawtucket, RI. She was found behind a dumpster just a few blocks away from my uncle's, (her Fathers) home. There was no denying Wendy did have a drug problem and may very well have turned to prostitution. If she was prostituting prior to her murder, She was never arrested for it. Check www.courts.state.ri.us/ you will not find any record of an arrest for prostitution.(or anything else).
At the time of her murder, The BTK was active. I do not believe he was the actual killer of my cousin. My uncle was told wendy was killed by a "serial killer". All the family believes this was a way for the authorities to look the other way and write off her murder because the local authorities did not feel her death was worth investigating.
My uncle died with this knowledge. He also died knowing his youngest child's body was found a few blocks away from his home. My cousin and I were very close as teens and it still bothers me that no real police work was ever done to investigate her death. Not even her boyfriend was interviewed.
I have tried looking for information on Wendy's murder over the past 21 years and have been unable to find anything. Do you have any suggestions? my email is preciousmonkey2@yahoo.com
thankyou for your time,
Tracy