If you have lived in the Nashua area, or more specifically the town of Merrimack, since the early 1970s, you may be familiar with the unsolved case of the murders of Diane Compagna and Anne Psaradelis. The girls were last seen at Hampton Beach on July 12, 1973. Their bodies were found in Candia in the woods near New Boston Road on September 29th of the same year. Both girls were 15 years old and would have been beginning their sophomore year at Merrimack High School.
New interest has been generated in the case because of a recent book which has been published by Joseph Horak. Mr. Horak, a retired Merrimack police detective, was one of the law enforcement personnel who first investigated the murders in 1973. His first book, Justice denied : a detective's dilemma , published in 2004, was a discussion of the facts of the case and a detailing of where the investigation may have gone wrong. His second book, Pride and honor : behind the badge is a compilation of stories highlighting his career as a police officer. That may not be what drew so many people to the Merrimack Public Library to hear him speak on June 11, 2007 that some were turned away at the door for lack of room.
There is the small matter of what appears on page 347. Horak has had his own suspect in this case for some time. In this second book, on page 347, in an effort to generate some movement on the part of everyone involved in the case, Horak has named the person whom he believes was responsible for the murders of these two girls. The man is a Merrimack resident. Horak states that he is more interested in seeing justice done, than he is concerned about any legal consequences that may befall him for making the accusation.
If you are interested in catching up with developments in this case over the last few years, here are some links to stories which have been published in local papers.
Nashua Telegraph
Milford Cabinet and a second article in the Cabinet
The library has a wide selection of true crime reading. If you are interested in following up on a few of the other murder cases which have been in the headlines in recent years, here are some suggestions.
A death in Belmont
Safe harbor : a murder in Nantucket
A rose for Mary : the hunt for the real Boston strangler
Invisible Eden: a story of love and murder on Cape Cod