On December 10, 1982, in the town of Thornton, New Hampshire, the cover- up of two murders began.

A mother and son had been coldly murdered in their home, and a fiery motor vehicle accident had been staged. Responding officials used the staged accident as the underpinning for their official reports.

Responding 1982 officials deliberately and willfully mishandled this investigation. A murderer was left unchallenged, and allowed to continue walking the streets of our society.

This murderer believed that by virtue of his law enforcement background that he was in a protected class. He believed that he could get away with murder. After the 1982 State Police investigation concluded, he knew his belief was in fact reality. He was allowed to get away with murder and he continued on further endangering other lives.

This cover-up began to unfold before dawn 15 days before Christmas 1982. Following is a chronicled account of how this incident began to unfold.

In the early morning hours of December 10, 1982, an explosion was heard. Moments later a former firefighter, John Spurling, left his home heading for work. Turning right at the end of his driveway he entered onto Route 175 in Thornton, New Hampshire. Glancing into his rear view mirror he noticed a bright orange glow piercing the darkness. Thinking fire, he stopped, popped his vehicle into reverse, and quickly backed up the road. Approximately 500 feet back, on his left, he discovered the source of the orange glow.

A vehicle, burning furiously, was off the roadway.

At discovery, only the interior of the vehicle was burning furiously. The vehicle, off road, came to a gentle and non violent stop when it reached the bottom of a short embankment, almost like it had been deliberately placed right there. There was no impact as the vehicle had not collided with anything. There was no one about. There were no signs of life no screams for help.

Spurling exited his vehicle, mindful that the burning vehicle might explode, cautiously, but hurriedly, approached the driver’s side. Through the furious flames he could barely discern a body slumped up against the steering wheel. This body was already acutely charred - the person clearly dead.

The inferno was so intense Spurling could not tell if anyone else was injured or dead inside. Conducting a quick survey of the scene – he noted that there were no other vehicles involved and no persons had been ejected or walked away from the vehicle.

Desperate for help, Spurling looked up the road, and through the leafless trees. He noticed lights on in a residence approximately 500 feet north of this horrible scene.

A New Hampshire law enforcement officer, Richard Dow, lived in the residence.

In a high state of frustration Spurling wondered why Officer Dow was not responding to the scene.

Spurling thought, “Dow must have heard the explosion, he must be aware of the fire.” Why wasn’t Dow responding to the scene?

Jumping into his vehicle, Spurling raced to his own home just yards away to notify authorities.