The Murder of David Pickett (New Hampshire)

Over 30 years have gone by without answers for the violent death of David Pickett on a quiet New England beach. When an investigation by police failed to get justice, David’s sister decided to seek justice on her own terms…Even if the suspect was her own blood.

February 4, 1993

February 4, 1993 was a cold, cold morning in New Castle, New Hampshire. The temperature wouldn’t break freezing all day, but for New Englanders who know how to dress for the occasion, there are few rituals more precious than a beach walk in the winter. It’s calm and quiet, everything takes on muted tones of gray and dark slate and white. Footsteps leave the distinct chainlike impressions of L.L. Bean boot tread in the sand.

That morning was different though. Around 6:15 a.m. as the briny Atlantic waters gently washed over the rocks and sand of New Castle beach, what should’ve been a peaceful stroll for two residents and their dog was interrupted by something that didn’t belong.

According to reporting by Robert Cook for Foster’s Daily Democrat, laying there in the sand was the body of a man caked in snow and blood. He was wearing beige clothing and a reflective jacket but he didn’t have any shoes on, rather a pair of boots were placed neatly beside his body.

Part-time New Castle police officer Dan Barrett was among the first of dozens of police officers to arrive at the scene. He found the man to have a wound to his neck, so severe that the man’s head was nearly severed from his body. The next day, when the chief medical examiner released his findings, the identity of the victim was also announced to the shock of the tiny island community. The man found dead on New Castle Beach was 59-year old David Pickett.

Early Investigation

The resounding shock over David Pickett’s death, his murder, just about bowled over the town of New Castle. Many of the less than 900 residents had deep roots and extensive family history in the area, including David’s family, the Picketts. For a man who had lived in town since he was a young boy, who was known as a quiet, friendly, and kind man who enjoyed his solo walks through town to then turn up dead under such violent circumstances, it was difficult for everyone to reconcile.

According to his death certificate, David Pickett died as a result of an incised wound to the neck. New Hampshire State Police also say now that David sustained a stab wound to his back. Although the manner and circumstances of his death were still under investigation, State Police were treating the death as a homicide and had sealed off the beach location as a crime scene.

Investigators searched the sand for clues while the U.S. Coast Guard assisted in a search of the water just off shore. A search was also underway at David’s apartment located across the street from town hall. His vehicle was still parked in the Town Hall lot, where he was known to leave it after work. Although there was a flurry of activity in the tiny seaside town during those first few days of the investigation, police weren’t able to say if they’d found anything, and did not disclose if a murder weapon had been recovered.

Meanwhile, police were also reaching out to anyone and everyone who knew David and his habits. They spoke with his coworkers, friends, acquaintances, and his family members, including his sister, Mary Hopwood, and his brother, Robert Pickett. And as police soon learned, this was not one big happy family.

Robert and David

Mary Hopwood knew that her brothers didn’t get along. Ever since their mother Gertrude passed away in 1984, things had soured between the siblings. At the center of their disagreements was often money and the ancestral home at 11 Seabreeze Lane in New Castle.

According to reporting by Karen Dandurant for the Portsmouth Herald, after their mother’s passing, the cottage was left to David, Robert, and Mary equally. The brothers had lived there together while their mother was still alive, and decided to continue living in the house together, but as Mary knew, it was David who carried the bulk of the financial responsibility to keep the house afloat. Oceanfront taxes aren’t exactly cheap and the cottage was at least a century old. It required repairs and maintenance.

The disputes over costs were never ending and Mary said that the wedge between David and Robert was driven deeper and deeper over the years. It became so bad that even though they were living under the same roof, the brothers would mail things to each other rather than have a face to face interaction. But maybe that was for the best, because as Mary claimed, one such interaction turned violent.

Their fights had always been a war of words – the hurling of insults and harsh words at the top of their lungs, loud enough for neighbors to hear – but things came to a head in March of 1990 when David allegedly threatened Robert with a fireplace poker and Robert responded with a kitchen knife, slashing David in the arm.

After that incident, David moved out of the Seabreeze home and into an apartment across from Town Hall, leaving Robert the place to himself. They didn’t see or speak to each other after that, except for one interaction where David brought a contractor over to the house to see about converting it into a duplex so each brother could have his own space, but that renovation never happened. They occasionally saw each other in passing around town, as David kept up with his daily walks.

Even though he had moved out, David still helped pay for the expenses, but he thought he shouldn’t be responsible for an equal amount of the costs since he didn’t live there. He wanted his brother to cover a greater share…But that wasn’t an easy subject to broach.

In the past, when they were living together, David would pay the bills in full and then ask Robert for his portion. But now David wanted Robert to pay the bill directly, so when the 1992 property taxes came due, David mailed the bill to Robert. A few days later, David got the tax bill back. Unpaid. It was the final straw for David.

According to court records, on January 24, 1993, David called his sister Mary and told her he was going to force the sale of the house with a Petition for Partition. It’s a last resort legal action when property owners can’t decide what to do, and asks a court to force the sale of the house and distribute the proceeds according to each party’s percentage of ownership. So basically, if Robert couldn’t contribute his share, David would see to it that the house would cease to belong to any of the Pickett family members.

Mary wanted to go with David to talk to Robert about it, but David insisted that he could handle it himself. Just 10 days after that declaration to Mary, David was murdered and left for dead on the sand less than 300 yards from the family home.

Robert’s Version of Events

On the morning of February 4, 1993, Robert Pickett woke to a flurry of activity in his otherwise quiet neighborhood. From the second floor window of the cottage he could see that there were State and local police cruisers and emergency vehicles everywhere, but despite the unusual scene, Robert said he wasn’t curious at all. He just went about his morning, which began with finishing up some errands he’d started the night before.

According to court records, on February 3, Robert had written four checks from his checkbook and then drove to the post office in the town of Rye about 15 minutes away from New Castle. He used two of the checks to purchase money orders made out to his brother David – one for $132 to reimburse him for a portion of the property taxes and another for $162.72 noted as “Cash for Oil” in his check register. The other two personal checks were for a cable bill and a credit card bill.

After purchasing the money orders for David, Robert said he decided to just go home because he wasn’t feeling well and he turned in early for the night. The next morning, the 4th, he decided to drive back to the post office in Rye to mail the check he’d written the day before to pay the cable bill, but he said he decided not to mail the money orders to David. From there, he said he stopped to grab some groceries and then went for a visit with an old friend in Portsmouth before heading back to New Castle.

When Robert pulled up to Seabreeze Lane late morning, he was greeted by a police officer who asked him to go down to Town Hall to be interviewed about a murder that happened the night before. When he arrived around 11:30 a.m. that’s when an officer informed Robert that the murder victim was his own brother and he was found not far from Robert’s home on the beach.

Robert told police that the last time he saw his brother was months ago, when David was on one of his walks through town and Robert was driving on the same road. Although he lived so close to the location of the body, Robert stated he hadn’t heard anything strange or concerning the night before, and he didn’t have any idea what happened to David.

David Pickett’s story continues on Dark Downeast. Press play to hear the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.