Another interesting wrinkle: when Dodge’s car was recovered from the garage in Portsmouth, there was a piece of paper in the front seat with several license plate numbers, one from New Jersey, another from California. The Dover PD contacted the motor vehicle department in each state to verify the numbers. That led to contact with the owner of the New Jersey vehicle, who in fact had been visiting with his parents in Rochester just prior to Christmas (and again a week or so following the murder). This person claimed to have no knowledge of Bob Dodge and offered no explanation of why his plate number was in the Dodge vehicle. The California number appeared to be a wrong number. (The police file has a number of inquiries to out-of-state police and motor vehicle agencies — including but not limited to West Virginia, Ohio, Delaware and Oregon — tracking down and/or confirming addresses, police and/or motor vehicle records, of a number of people who, one way or another, had come to the attention of investigators as persons of interest.)

On the 20th, an “unidentified informant” appeared at the Dover PD, someone with previous contacts with George Hester of the state police. Hester was notified, and the individual told him that, on the previous evening, he had had a conversation with a woman who was a former girlfriend of one Andrew Leroy Arthur. The woman, who lived in Portsmouth, claimed that Arthur told her that he had “killed the guard or watchman” at Kidder Press. Also, that she was in possession of a .22-caliber Magnum revolver belonging to Arthur. (This was the same individual mentioned previously as having been temporarily employed at Kidder Press.)

This prompted a call to Henry Spaloss at the AG’s office and a meeting of officers at the Portsmouth PD: Spaloss, Barbara Smith of the AG’s staff, Portsmouth Detective William Mortimer, Inspector Rowe, Capt. Doyon and Hester from the state, and two local officers. The woman’s address was verified, and an application for a search warrant was submitted to a local judge. The search, which took place at 11 p.m., proved negative.

Prior to the search, State Troopers John Casey and Sheldon Sullivan had interviewed Arthur’s wife. She provided a solid alibi: she, Arthur, and several friends had attended a New Year’s Eve party at the NCO Club at Pease AFB. She accounted for their activities and whereabouts following the party and the next day. According to Mrs. Arthur, the former girlfriend, who was the mother of a year-old child fathered by Arthur (prior to their marriage), was a person likely to make up stories to create problems for him. She agreed to take a lie detector test, and once again Trooper Desjardins was called in to assist.

On the 21st, another call from another informant, this one described in the file as “reliable.” Somewhat ironic, as we shall see, but the story was that the Dodge murder had been carried out by two brothers, and names were provided. One was a member of the military, serving at a base in Kentucky, but who had been on furlough in the Dover area to visit with family over the holidays. A third brother, known to the investigating officers, confirmed the dates and mentioned that the potential suspect “did not have too much money when he was at home.” Questioned about ownership of weapons, this individual acknowledged that he owned a .22-caliber revolver but readily agreed to turn it over to authorities for testing.

Returning to the informant, the balance of the story was that on the night prior to leaving Dover to return to Kentucky, the suspect was out drinking with several companions. “He started to cry, broke down saying that his brother and him had broken into Kidder Press and his brother had shot the watchman.” They had placed a blanket on him “because they had to keep walking by him during the burglary and couldn’t stand to look at him.” All pretty specific, except that it conflicted directly with information the police had obtained from family members and other sources, which confirmed the suspect’s whereabouts at the time of the murder, somewhere other than Kidder Press. New Hampshire State Police contacted the military authorities in Kentucky and confirmed the suspect’s return there on Jan. 3.
At some point, the second brother, allegedly the shooter in this story, had been located and subjected to questioning. He denied having any knowledge of the event and agreed to take a lie detector test. He passed. In the meantime, the police had contacted local financial agencies for credit checks on both, with nothing indicating a need for money. So much for that one informant’s “reliability.”

Inquiries were made to the New Jersey State Police about an individual with connections in the area and with a prior criminal record who was reported to have been in the area near the end of the year. Another lead: word from one person that he had overheard a remark by another person that he knew who had killed Dodge. The person’s name was known, no address, but previous contacts in Rochester. An inquiry was made of the PD there, and the name appeared on a prior record, but he was known to have left town. A sister-in-law was contacted, and she provided the name of a recent employer in Somersworth. A foreman there was interviewed, and he did have an address, and information that the individual was now working nights in Berwick. Maine State Police were contacted, and a trooper joined the New Hampshire investigators in an interview with the subject’s roommate, then located the person himself, who, although admitting to having been at the location on the date and time when the alleged conversation took place, denied having made the statement. He had an alibi for the time of the murder, which was confirmed, and offered to take a lie detector test. (This last example was typical of the amount of time committed to this case, even though it ultimately resulted in no useful information. Two or more police personnel involved, travel to three or four separate communities, direct contact and interviews with a half-dozen individuals, records recovered, notes taken, reports transcribed, reviewed and signed off, to become part of an extensive file available to all others doing the same kind and amount of groundwork. The commitment by law enforcement to solving Dodge’s death reflected by a present-day review of the file is quite remarkable.)

Officers continued to check with seacoast shops where guns were sold, now going south through the Hamptons, seeking names of customers who may have purchased .22-caliber ammunition prior to the date of the murder. An expanded number of local motels were contacted, check-ins reviewed for possible suspects — individuals with prior records — who might have been in the area within days of the killing. (One interesting bit of information from this inquiry: room rates at the time were in the range of $12 a night.)

(to be continued)