Investigators identify suspect in decades-old cold case murder of 23-year-old New Hampshire woman

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Investigators on Thursday announced the identity of a man wanted in connection with a decades-old cold case murder of a 23-year-old woman in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Ronney James Lee, who died of acute cocaine intoxication at the age of 45 in February 2005, is the man responsible for the murder of Laura Kempton on the morning of Sept. 28, 1981, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Portsmouth Police Chief Mark Newport said during a joint news conference.

Officers attempting to serve a court summons found Kempton dead in her apartment with massive blunt-force trauma to the left side of her head on that September morning. Kempton had last been seen alone entering her apartment alone after a night out socializing with a friend.

Physical evidence that was collected from the scene of Kempton’s murder revealed a male DNA profile years later. Over the next four decades, investigators pursued hundreds of leads and potential suspects but were unable to identify the perpetrator.

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Kempton cold case (NH Attorney General's Office)

In 2022, the Portsmouth Police Department, working in conjunction with the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Maine State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit, and Identifinders International, used forensic genetic genealogy technology to identify Lee, who was 21 at the time of Kempton’s homicide, Formella and Newport said.

If Lee were still alive, authorities said that would have sought 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.

“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,” Formella said. “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.”

Since Lee is dead, the cold case will now be closed and identified as “solved” without an arrest and prosecution.

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