Trooper Raymond Elliott
1920 - 1947

26 years old
Tour of Duty: one Years
Died on June 1, 1947

Cause of Death: Automobile Accident

Date of Incident: Sunday, June 1, 1947

Weapon Used : none

Suspect Info: Oliva Blanchette

Trooper Elliot joined the New Hampshire State Police on July 15, 1946 after serving in the United States Navy during World War II. Trooper Elliot lived in Groveton, New Hampshire.

On June 1, 1947, Trooper Elliot’s cruiser was sideswiped by another vehicle, driven by an eighteen year old Oliva Blanchette of Berlin, on Route 16 between Berlin and Gorham. Trooper Elliot’s cruiser was forced off the road and struck a utility pole. The police car was in a vertical postion against the remnants of the utility pole when police arrived.  Power lines which enmeshed the car made it impossible to immediately remove Trooper Elliot from the vehicle.  Dr. Leandre Beaudoin Coos County Medical Referee said death was probably instantaneous. 

At the time of his death, Trooper Elliot was twenty-six years old and had been with the State Police for eleven months. Trooper Elliot, unmarried, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Arlo Elliot of Groveton, NH and was survived by his son Wayne. Trooper Elliot was born on November 8, 1920 in Sheffield VT.

Trooper Harold B. Johnson
1887 - 1948

61 years old
Tour of Duty: 24 Years
Died on October 11, 1948

Cause of Death: Automobile Accident

Date of Incident: Monday, October 11, 1948

Weapon Used : none

Suspect Info: N/A

Trooper Johnson was born in North Stratford, New Hampshire on August 24,1887. He spent many years in Groveton, where his parents owned the Eagle Hotel, and in 1940, he moved to Lancaster. He was first employed by the State Motor Vehicle Department in 1924. In 1937, Trooper Johnson became one of the first State Troopers in New Hampshire, wore the No. 1 badge, and was, at the time of his death, the longest serving Trooper on the force.

Trooper Johnson had just returned to duty after nine months of medical leave, after having his leg crushed by a vehicle while directing traffic on New Year’s Eve. On October 11, 1948, after returning from a court hearing in Groveton, the cruiser that Trooper Johnson was riding in collided with the side of a Boston and Maine freight train at a crossing on Route 3 about a quarter mile south of Groveton. Trooper Johnson died instantly along with Lancaster Police Chief, Andrew T. Malloy. The driver of the cruiser, Trooper Frank Helms, suffered a concussion and other injuries but survived the crash.

Trooper Johnson left behind his wife and three children.

Lieutenant Ivan Hayes
1907 - 1959

52 years old
Tour of Duty: 22Years
Died on July 18, 1959

Cause of Death: Heart Attack

Date of Incident: Saturday, July 18, 1959

Weapon Used : N/A

Suspect Info:N/A

Lieutenant Hayes was born at Center Strafford, New Hampshire on September 30, 1907. He was married on September 4, 1941, to Louise MacAllister of Lancaster, New Hampshire who died in 1952. Lieutenant Hayes became a member of the New Hampshire State Police on July 1, 1937, after being transferred from the Attorney General’s Office. He was a graduate of Harvard University Medical Legal School and earned a law degree from LaSalle Extension University. He was also the fingerprint expert for the New Hampshire State Police.

On the evening of July 18, 1959, an automobile was reported being wildly driven around the town of Strafford, near where Lieutenant Hayes lived. When he learned that the trooper assigned to the area was busy on duty elsewhere, Lieutenant Hayes offered to try and locate the car until another officer was free.

About three hours later a citizen reported that he had come upon the Lieutenant’s car, stopped beside a road. Lieutenant Hayes was inside the car, comatose. When another state police trooper arrived at the scene, Lieutenant Hayes was dead, the victim of a heart attack.

Trooper Richard F. Champy
1945 - 1978

32 years old
Tour of Duty: 8 years
Died on February 3, 1978

Cause of Death: Heart Attack - Struggle

Date of Incident: Friday, February 3, 1978

Weapon Used : Physical Force

Suspect Info: Unknown

Trooper Champy was an eight-year veteran of the New Hampshire State Police and was stationed at Troop D in Bow. He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was a K-9 officer and usually traveled with his bloodhound, “Smokey.” He lived in Newbury, New Hampshire. He was a graduate of Woodbury High School in Salem and served in the United States Navy in the Vietnam War.

On February 3, 1978, Trooper Champy heard a call for assistance of a motorist whose car had been struck by another motorist. Trooper Champy, along with fellow Trooper Korbett pursued the fleeing vehicle and eventually stopped it.

During a struggle to arrest the passenger of the vehicle Trooper Champy suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 32 years old.

He was survived by his wife and his two daughters.

Trooper Joseph E. Gearty
1961 - 1989

28 years old
Tour of Duty: 7 years
Died on November 30, 1989

Cause of Death:Automobile Accident

Date of Incident: Wednesday, November 29, 1989

Weapon Used :N/A

Suspect Info:N/A

Trooper Gearty was a seven-year veteran of the New Hampshire State Police who was most recently assigned to Troop F in Twin Mountain. He was born and raised in Norwood, Massachusetts and graduated from Blue Hills Regional High School in Canton, Massachusetts in 1980. After high school, he served three years in the United States Army as a military police officer. At the time of his death he lived in Rumney, New Hampshire with his wife and son.

Trooper Gearty died in the line of duty along with Trooper Gary Parker while the two were transporting a prisoner to the Grafton County Jail. While traveling on Route 25 near the Wentworth-Warren town line, their cruiser was crushed by a load of lumber that broke loose from a tractor-trailer.

The prisoner was also killed in the accident. Trooper Gearty was 28 years old.

Trooper Gearty was survived by his wife and their six-month old son.

Trooper Gary Parker
1959 - 1989

30 years old
Tour of Duty: 9 years
Died on November 29, 1989

Cause of Death:Automobile Accident

Date of Incident: Wednesday, November 29, 1989

Weapon Used : N/A

Suspect Info: N/A

Trooper Gary P. Parker was a member of the Wolfeboro Police Department for six years prior to being hired by the New Hampshire State Police in 1986. He worked at both Troop B and was later transferred to Troop E. He was also assigned to the DWI Unit in Concord for some time. He was born in Tarrytown, New York and spent his early childhood in Gloucester, Massachusetts before moving to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He graduated from Kingswood Regional High School and Johnson State College in Vermont.

Trooper Parker died in the line of duty along with Trooper Joseph Gearty while the two were transporting a prisoner to the Grafton County Jail when their cruiser was crushed by a load of lumber that broke loose from a tractor-trailer.

It was Trooper Parker’s first day at Troop E. All three occupants of the vehicle died. Trooper Parker was 30 years old.

Trooper Parker was survived by his wife who was pregnant with their second child, and their 16-month old son.

Sgt. James S. Noyes
1954 - 1994

40 years old
Tour of Duty: 17 years
Died on October 3, 1994

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Date of Incident: Monday, October 3, 1994

Weapon Used : Rifle

Suspect Info: Committed Suicide after Trooper Shot

Sergeant James Noyes was a 17-year veteran of the New Hampshire State Police. He was 1972 graduate of Haverhill High School in Haverhill, Massachusetts and a 1976 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston and held a B.S. in Sociology. During his tenure with the New Hampshire State Police, he also worked with the Major Crime Unit and Narcotics Unit prior to his assignment in the S.W.A.T. Team.

Sergeant Noyes, head of the SWAT team, was at home with his family when he heard about a standoff in Gilford, New Hampshire, involving a despondent man who had lost his wife earlier in the year. The suspect was barricaded in his home.

Sergeant Noyes responded with the team in the hopes that, as an expert hostage negotiator, he could talk him into putting down his weapon. While Sergeant Noyes was outside the building speaking to him, the man fired several shots. One shot struck him in the wrist and the second struck him under the left arm, bypassing his vest.

The suspect then committed suicide.

Sergeant Noyes had been with the agency for 17 years and was survived by his wife, daughter, and two sons.

His oldest son followed in his footsteps and joined the New Hampshire State Police in December 2001.

Trooper Leslie G. Lord
1951 - 1997

45 years old
Tour of Duty: 22 years
Died on August 19, 1997

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Date of Incident: Tuesday, August 19, 1997

Weapon Used : Rifle

Suspect Info: Suspect shot and killed by other Offices

Trooper Lord served as the Pittsburg, New Hampshire, police chief from 1975 – 1987 before becoming employed with the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Bureau of Enforcement. When that agency merged with the New Hampshire State Police in 1996, Lord became a Trooper. He was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts on December 10, 1951 and was a 1971 graduate of Pittsburg High School. While in high school, he was one of the first cadets for the Cadet Program of the State Police. He was a deputy fire warden and a member of the Pittsburg Ambulance Corp.

Trooper Lord and Trooper Scott Phillips were shot and killed after Trooper Phillips had stopped the suspect for having too much rust on his truck. The suspect immediately exited his vehicle and opened fire on Trooper Phillips with an automatic weapon, wounding him in the hand. Trooper Phillips was able to return fire and emptied his entire magazine but did not wound the suspect, who was wearing a bullet proof vest.

Trooper Lord pulled up to the scene without knowing that shots had been fired and was shot before he even exited his patrol car. The suspect then returned and shot Trooper Phillips four more times, execution style, killing him.

He then stole Trooper Phillips patrol car and drove to the office of a local newspaper where he shot and killed a part-time judge, with whom he had a long standing grudge, and a newspaper editor who had tried to intervene.

The suspect then drove into Vermont where he shot and wounded an officer who attempted to stop him. The officer's life was saved when a bullet struck his badge and ricocheted off. The suspect then stopped the patrol car and setup an ambush. Two Vermont state troopers located the patrol car and approached it with a canine unit.

The canine alerted the troopers to the suspect who was in an ambush position on a nearby hill, giving the officers an opportunity to take cover as the suspect opened fire on them from the hill. Three other officers were all shot and wounded in the final shootout with the suspect at that location.

Upon searching the suspect's land officials found massive caches of booby trapped bomb materials and weapons hidden in underground tunnels.

Trooper Lord was the Chief of Police in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, from 1975 to 1987. In 1987, he joined the Bureau of Highway Enforcement, and became a trooper in 1996 when that agency merged with the New Hampshire State Police. He had also been the Fire Chief of his local volunteer fire department.

He was survived by his wife and two sons.

Trooper Scott E. Phillips
1965 - 1997

32 years old
Tour of Duty: 13 years
Died on August 19, 1997

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Date of Incident: Tuesday, August 19, 1997

Weapon Used : Rifle; Automatic

Suspect Info: Suspect shot and killed by other Offices

Trooper Phillips joined the New Hampshire State police in 1990. He was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts on January 4, 1965 and was raised in Lancaster, New Hampshire. He served in the United States Army Military Police Corps and was stationed in Panama from 1985 to 1989. He was an avid runner and took part in the annual Special Olympics Torch Run as well as being on the 21st Century Committee for the town of Colebrook.

On August 19, 1997, in Colebrook,  Trooper Phillips and Trooper Leslie Lord were shot and killed after Trooper Phillips had stopped the suspect for having too much rust on his truck. The suspect immediately exited his vehicle and opened fire on Trooper Phillips with an automatic weapon, wounding him in the hand. Trooper Phillips was able to return fire and emptied his entire magazine but did not wound the suspect, who was wearing a bullet proof vest.

Trooper Lord pulled up to the scene without knowing that shots had been fired and was shot before he even exited his patrol car. The suspect then returned and shot Trooper Phillips four more times, execution style, killing him. He then stole Trooper Phillips patrol car and drove to the office of a local newspaper where he shot and killed a part-time judge, with whom he had a long standing grudge, and a newspaper editor who had tried to intervene.

The suspect then drove into Vermont where he shot and wounded an officer who attempted to stop him. The officer's life was saved when a bullet struck his badge and ricocheted off. The suspect then stopped the patrol car and setup an ambush. Two Vermont state troopers located the patrol car and approached it with a canine unit. The canine alerted the troopers to the suspect who was in an ambush position on a nearby hill, giving the officers an opportunity to take cover as the suspect opened fire on them from the hill. Three other officers were all shot and wounded in the final shootout with the suspect at that location.

Upon searching the suspect's land officials found massive caches of booby trapped bomb materials and weapons hidden in underground tunnels.

He was survived by his wife, son  and daughter.