Joseph C. Mello Unsolved Murder 1989
On June 22 1989 Fairhaven police were called to 136 Sycamore Street for a death. Initially police found no signs of trauma or signs of violence. Autopsy was conducted and the death was ruled a homicide. The Medical Examiner located a stab wound.
The murder weapon was never recovered, and police suspected somehow illegal drug activity was involved. A suspect was never identified.
On June 22 1989 Fairhaven police were called to 136 Sycamore Street for a death. Initially police found no signs of trauma or signs of violence. Autopsy was conducted and the death was ruled a homicide. The Medical Examiner located a stab wound.
The murder weapon was never recovered, and police suspected somehow illegal drug activity was involved. A suspect was never identified.
Keith Olson Unsolved Murder 1985
On April 8 1985 the skeletal remains of an adult male along with remnants of his clothing were found 45 feet from the highway in the woods along the westbound side of I-195 in Fairhaven. A number of spent bullets and a pack of cigarettes were also recovered. No sources of identification were located.
The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, the FBI laboratory found the man was Caucasian, around 5ft 9in tall, and likely between the ages of 38 and 48 years old. He may have been of slight build and wore a size 10 ½ shoe. The examination also suggested that the victim was likely murdered 1 to 3 years prior to the discovery of his body.
In 2022, a DNA sample was recovered and is currently undergoing additional genetic genealogy testing to assist in the identification.
UPDATE: November 21, 2023 Victim Identified
Keith Olson had served time for manslaughter in the 1970s after he was charged with murder. In 1974, Olson, then 20 and living in North Providence, was charged with murder in the death of Daryle W. Thomas (24) whose body had been found in the Ten Mile River near the East Providence-Seekonk line.
Later that year, after prosecutors requested a charge reduction, Olson pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Providence Superior Court.
Judge Eugene G. Gallant gave Olson 10 years to serve in prison with five years suspended. As part of the same incident, Olson had assaulted and kidnapped another young man at gunpoint. He received concurrent terms of five years for each of those offenses.
The skeletal remains have been positively identified as Keith Olson (27) (1953-1981) of Cranston R.I. Keith was reported missing on April 15, 1981 to the Cranston Rhode Island Police Department.
Suspect Identified - John Broccoli (1956-2019)
Investigators learned Keith was dating a woman and the relationship resulted in tension between Keith and the woman's ex-boyfriend, John Broccoli.
A witness to Keith's 1981 disappearance said two (2) men escorted Keith from his Cranston apartment. On the same day that Keith was last seen, John Broccoli, made cryptic statements to the woman who had been dating Keith that suggested his possible involvement. Investigators believe another unknown individual was involved in the murder.
In February 1985 John Broccoli was convicted of conspiracy to commit, as well as committing an armed robbery at liquor store in Providence R.I.
On April 8 1985 the skeletal remains of an adult male along with remnants of his clothing were found 45 feet from the highway in the woods along the westbound side of I-195 in Fairhaven. A number of spent bullets and a pack of cigarettes were also recovered. No sources of identification were located.
The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, the FBI laboratory found the man was Caucasian, around 5ft 9in tall, and likely between the ages of 38 and 48 years old. He may have been of slight build and wore a size 10 ½ shoe. The examination also suggested that the victim was likely murdered 1 to 3 years prior to the discovery of his body.
In 2022, a DNA sample was recovered and is currently undergoing additional genetic genealogy testing to assist in the identification.
UPDATE: November 21, 2023 Victim Identified
Keith Olson had served time for manslaughter in the 1970s after he was charged with murder. In 1974, Olson, then 20 and living in North Providence, was charged with murder in the death of Daryle W. Thomas (24) whose body had been found in the Ten Mile River near the East Providence-Seekonk line.
Later that year, after prosecutors requested a charge reduction, Olson pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Providence Superior Court.
Judge Eugene G. Gallant gave Olson 10 years to serve in prison with five years suspended. As part of the same incident, Olson had assaulted and kidnapped another young man at gunpoint. He received concurrent terms of five years for each of those offenses.
The skeletal remains have been positively identified as Keith Olson (27) (1953-1981) of Cranston R.I. Keith was reported missing on April 15, 1981 to the Cranston Rhode Island Police Department.
Suspect Identified - John Broccoli (1956-2019)
Investigators learned Keith was dating a woman and the relationship resulted in tension between Keith and the woman's ex-boyfriend, John Broccoli.
A witness to Keith's 1981 disappearance said two (2) men escorted Keith from his Cranston apartment. On the same day that Keith was last seen, John Broccoli, made cryptic statements to the woman who had been dating Keith that suggested his possible involvement. Investigators believe another unknown individual was involved in the murder.
In February 1985 John Broccoli was convicted of conspiracy to commit, as well as committing an armed robbery at liquor store in Providence R.I.
Mary D. Silveira Unsolved Murder 1976
On January 15 1976 Mary Silveira (64) was discovered badly beaten and strangled in her bedroom at 235 Green Street. A neighbor had made the gruesome discovery when she noticed the shades were closed during the day and her telephone had a busy signal. Fairhaven Police reported there was evidence of a struggle and that Silveiras’s body was found on top of magazines that had been thrown around the second-floor bedroom where a telephone was also off the hook. Additionally, a window was broken at the front of the house, and a second window and lock were also broken on the front door.
Autopsy results determined the cause of death was from internal injuries caused by strangulation and a beating that left her chest cavity and one side of her head crushed and two of her ribs broken.
Silveira had been married Dr. Filbert Silveira, a member of the Fairhaven Board of Health. They had divorced 15 years prior to her death and left behind a daughter and grandchildren. The motive for the murder remains unknown.
In 2010 Fairhaven Police stated it remains unclear if Mary's murder was a "robbery gone bad or somebody she knew." Additionally, all the primary suspects are deceased.
On January 15 1976 Mary Silveira (64) was discovered badly beaten and strangled in her bedroom at 235 Green Street. A neighbor had made the gruesome discovery when she noticed the shades were closed during the day and her telephone had a busy signal. Fairhaven Police reported there was evidence of a struggle and that Silveiras’s body was found on top of magazines that had been thrown around the second-floor bedroom where a telephone was also off the hook. Additionally, a window was broken at the front of the house, and a second window and lock were also broken on the front door.
Autopsy results determined the cause of death was from internal injuries caused by strangulation and a beating that left her chest cavity and one side of her head crushed and two of her ribs broken.
Silveira had been married Dr. Filbert Silveira, a member of the Fairhaven Board of Health. They had divorced 15 years prior to her death and left behind a daughter and grandchildren. The motive for the murder remains unknown.
In 2010 Fairhaven Police stated it remains unclear if Mary's murder was a "robbery gone bad or somebody she knew." Additionally, all the primary suspects are deceased.
Louis Carmo Unsolved Death 1966
On February 1 1966 Fairhaven Police received a request for an ambulance at 325 Sconticut Road, the Mullen residence. Police and paramedics arrived and found Louis Carmo (20) frothing at the mouth and struggling to breathe. He was transported to St. Luke's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Arthur Mullen Jr. and Richard Browne both were interviewed by the police at the scene. The men explained they had spent the previous day drinking and taking drugs. All three went to sleep. In the morning, Richard left and Arthur woke to find Louis having the medical emergency.
At the time, the police reports indicated the circumstances were suspicious. Police picked up Richard at his father's Centre Street drug store, according to a report signed by detective Lt. James L. Doyle. According to Lt. Doyle, a visibly intoxicated Richard got nervous and stopped talking when asked if he had taken any drugs from the family pharmacy.
Richard was placed under arrest for probation violations. Police later conducted a inventory search of the Browne Pharmacy and found a number of drugs missing. The nicotine inventory was not checked.
Arthur claimed he witnessed Louis take a handful of pills while he was driving him to the Sconticut Neck Road house the previous evening.
Autopsy
The initial autopsy, was conducted by the late Dr. Stanley Koczera. There was enough doubt about the cause for Dr. Koczera to order further investigation. Blood samples returned on Feb. 2, 1966 indicated no common drugs at all in Louis's system. In his urine, however, was a fatal amount of nicotine, five times the level one could expect in a heavy smoker, though Louis didn't smoke at all.
Nicotine, an extremely toxic, corrosive poison, is commonly used in pharmaceutical testing. Two drops are enough to kill an adult.
Dr. Stanley Koczera later admitted to Catherine Carmo, the victim's sister, a nurse at St. Lukes Hospital, "I'm sorry, your brother was poisoned with nicotine." Dr. Koczera was later removed from the investigation.
On March 23 1966 the new medical examiner on the case, identified in reports only as Dr. Curtiss of Harvard Legal Medicine, ruled that the death was due to natural causes. Severe inflammation, trauma and discoloration in the victims throat was ruled the result of a severe bacterial infection. Pneumonia killed Louis, Dr. Curtiss recorded.
Interesting Encounter with Kenneth "Kenny" Pemberton
At this point public rumor was that Louis Carmo had been poisoned. On March 12 1966, Arthur Mullen Jr. was beaten in St. John's Cemetery -- on top of Louis Carmo's grave -- after being lured there from a downtown meeting. Arthur told police Kenny Pemberton, a friend of the Carmo family with a history of violent crime, had assaulted him. Arthur claimed Kenneth and an accomplice hit him with a soda bottle, kicked him and "stomped" on his face. He was then driven back downtown where a relative of Louis Carmo's -- he did not say who -- drove him to the hospital, according to court records.
Two (2) days later, Kenneth antagonized police until they arrested him for disorderly conduct. New Bedford Police told Lt. Doyle that they believed Kenneth wanted to get into jail to get at Richard Browne. Richard was segregated from the other prisoners. Kenneth told prison guards he felt Mr. Browne "deserved a beating," and "It seems funny two of them are OK and Louis died" according to the state police report.
A month after being assaulted, still bruised and swollen, with 13 stitches in his head, court records Arthur asked a judge in 3rd District Court to drop assault charges against Kenneth Pemberton. A side note, Kenneth Pemberton was murdered in Fall River in 1972, his murder remains unsolved. (See Fall River Unsolved Murders Page)
Carmo Case Closed
Massachusetts State Police closed the case based on the medical examiner's finding of natural causes.
George Carmo & Fairhaven Police Re-Open Investigation 1994
George Carmo said the family let the matter rest because of Louis' mother, who suffered a heart attack on the day her son died and was in frail health for the next three decades. In 1994 George mounted an investigation that resulted in a sizable folder full of reports, medical references and witness statements. His work impressed Fairhaven Police Chief Edward Silva, who has been helping push the issue since George first walked into the Fairhaven Police Department in 1994.
Chief Silva helped George draft requests to Dr. Michael Baden -- a New York forensics expert involved with a number of high-profile cases. Dr. Baden reviewed all of the investigative evidence in the case, including autopsy and toxicology reports and wrote that he felt the death was "homicidal and should be investigated as such." Dr. Baden reported he was sure the pneumonia was a symptom of the poisoning and that the actual cause was nicotine intoxication. "There's no evidence to suggest this could have occurred by suicide or by accident," Dr. Baden wrote.
District Attorney Walsh said Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Craig Frias reviewed the case once in 1994 after a request by Chief Silva, but found nothing significant. The 1994 review request by Chief Silvia also stated the police reports from the time no longer exist. The only record of Louis Carmo left in the Fairhaven Police Department is a one-line log entry, a call for an ambulance to Mr. Mullen's home at 325 Sconticut Neck Road on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 1966, the last day of Louis Carmo's life.
Lawsuit 2001
In 1997, over 30 years after the death of Louis Carmo, The New Bedford Standard Times ran an article on the reopening of the case into Louis Carmo's death. Fairhaven Selectman Attorney Patrick Mullen (brother of Arthur Mullen Jr.) filed a lawsuit against Fairhaven Police Chief Edward Silva and the New Bedford Standard Times for invasion of privacy.
Superior Court Judge Vieri Guy Volterra ruled in favor of The Standard-Times and dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the newspaper and Police Chief Edward Silva invaded the privacy of the family of former Selectman Patrick J. Mullen.
Judge Volterra noted that while the newspaper had published facts about Mr. Carmo's death, and events connected with the life of Arthur Mullen Jr., nothing in the article could be taken as an invasion of the plaintiffs' privacy. It was also noted that none of the three plaintiffs were mentioned in the article. Arthur Mullen Jr. died in 1996 from the complications of drug abuse.
Arthur Mullen Sr. Memorial Bridge 1962
Arthur Mullen Jr. was the son of powerful Fairhaven Democrat and former state senator Arthur Mullen Sr. (1922-1959). The Coggeshall Street Bridge is dedicated to Arthur Mullen Sr. who died unexpectedly at age 37. In 1962 the bridge officially named the Arthur J. Mullen Bridge.
On February 1 1966 Fairhaven Police received a request for an ambulance at 325 Sconticut Road, the Mullen residence. Police and paramedics arrived and found Louis Carmo (20) frothing at the mouth and struggling to breathe. He was transported to St. Luke's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Arthur Mullen Jr. and Richard Browne both were interviewed by the police at the scene. The men explained they had spent the previous day drinking and taking drugs. All three went to sleep. In the morning, Richard left and Arthur woke to find Louis having the medical emergency.
At the time, the police reports indicated the circumstances were suspicious. Police picked up Richard at his father's Centre Street drug store, according to a report signed by detective Lt. James L. Doyle. According to Lt. Doyle, a visibly intoxicated Richard got nervous and stopped talking when asked if he had taken any drugs from the family pharmacy.
Richard was placed under arrest for probation violations. Police later conducted a inventory search of the Browne Pharmacy and found a number of drugs missing. The nicotine inventory was not checked.
Arthur claimed he witnessed Louis take a handful of pills while he was driving him to the Sconticut Neck Road house the previous evening.
Autopsy
The initial autopsy, was conducted by the late Dr. Stanley Koczera. There was enough doubt about the cause for Dr. Koczera to order further investigation. Blood samples returned on Feb. 2, 1966 indicated no common drugs at all in Louis's system. In his urine, however, was a fatal amount of nicotine, five times the level one could expect in a heavy smoker, though Louis didn't smoke at all.
Nicotine, an extremely toxic, corrosive poison, is commonly used in pharmaceutical testing. Two drops are enough to kill an adult.
Dr. Stanley Koczera later admitted to Catherine Carmo, the victim's sister, a nurse at St. Lukes Hospital, "I'm sorry, your brother was poisoned with nicotine." Dr. Koczera was later removed from the investigation.
On March 23 1966 the new medical examiner on the case, identified in reports only as Dr. Curtiss of Harvard Legal Medicine, ruled that the death was due to natural causes. Severe inflammation, trauma and discoloration in the victims throat was ruled the result of a severe bacterial infection. Pneumonia killed Louis, Dr. Curtiss recorded.
Interesting Encounter with Kenneth "Kenny" Pemberton
At this point public rumor was that Louis Carmo had been poisoned. On March 12 1966, Arthur Mullen Jr. was beaten in St. John's Cemetery -- on top of Louis Carmo's grave -- after being lured there from a downtown meeting. Arthur told police Kenny Pemberton, a friend of the Carmo family with a history of violent crime, had assaulted him. Arthur claimed Kenneth and an accomplice hit him with a soda bottle, kicked him and "stomped" on his face. He was then driven back downtown where a relative of Louis Carmo's -- he did not say who -- drove him to the hospital, according to court records.
Two (2) days later, Kenneth antagonized police until they arrested him for disorderly conduct. New Bedford Police told Lt. Doyle that they believed Kenneth wanted to get into jail to get at Richard Browne. Richard was segregated from the other prisoners. Kenneth told prison guards he felt Mr. Browne "deserved a beating," and "It seems funny two of them are OK and Louis died" according to the state police report.
A month after being assaulted, still bruised and swollen, with 13 stitches in his head, court records Arthur asked a judge in 3rd District Court to drop assault charges against Kenneth Pemberton. A side note, Kenneth Pemberton was murdered in Fall River in 1972, his murder remains unsolved. (See Fall River Unsolved Murders Page)
Carmo Case Closed
Massachusetts State Police closed the case based on the medical examiner's finding of natural causes.
George Carmo & Fairhaven Police Re-Open Investigation 1994
George Carmo said the family let the matter rest because of Louis' mother, who suffered a heart attack on the day her son died and was in frail health for the next three decades. In 1994 George mounted an investigation that resulted in a sizable folder full of reports, medical references and witness statements. His work impressed Fairhaven Police Chief Edward Silva, who has been helping push the issue since George first walked into the Fairhaven Police Department in 1994.
Chief Silva helped George draft requests to Dr. Michael Baden -- a New York forensics expert involved with a number of high-profile cases. Dr. Baden reviewed all of the investigative evidence in the case, including autopsy and toxicology reports and wrote that he felt the death was "homicidal and should be investigated as such." Dr. Baden reported he was sure the pneumonia was a symptom of the poisoning and that the actual cause was nicotine intoxication. "There's no evidence to suggest this could have occurred by suicide or by accident," Dr. Baden wrote.
District Attorney Walsh said Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Craig Frias reviewed the case once in 1994 after a request by Chief Silva, but found nothing significant. The 1994 review request by Chief Silvia also stated the police reports from the time no longer exist. The only record of Louis Carmo left in the Fairhaven Police Department is a one-line log entry, a call for an ambulance to Mr. Mullen's home at 325 Sconticut Neck Road on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 1966, the last day of Louis Carmo's life.
Lawsuit 2001
In 1997, over 30 years after the death of Louis Carmo, The New Bedford Standard Times ran an article on the reopening of the case into Louis Carmo's death. Fairhaven Selectman Attorney Patrick Mullen (brother of Arthur Mullen Jr.) filed a lawsuit against Fairhaven Police Chief Edward Silva and the New Bedford Standard Times for invasion of privacy.
Superior Court Judge Vieri Guy Volterra ruled in favor of The Standard-Times and dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the newspaper and Police Chief Edward Silva invaded the privacy of the family of former Selectman Patrick J. Mullen.
Judge Volterra noted that while the newspaper had published facts about Mr. Carmo's death, and events connected with the life of Arthur Mullen Jr., nothing in the article could be taken as an invasion of the plaintiffs' privacy. It was also noted that none of the three plaintiffs were mentioned in the article. Arthur Mullen Jr. died in 1996 from the complications of drug abuse.
Arthur Mullen Sr. Memorial Bridge 1962
Arthur Mullen Jr. was the son of powerful Fairhaven Democrat and former state senator Arthur Mullen Sr. (1922-1959). The Coggeshall Street Bridge is dedicated to Arthur Mullen Sr. who died unexpectedly at age 37. In 1962 the bridge officially named the Arthur J. Mullen Bridge.
Ruth Fuller Unsolved Murder 1962
On June 30 1962 Ruth Fuller (40) was discovered strangled to death in her home at 53 Reynolds Street (street no longer exists). The investigation led to the arrest of Jackie Lee Wood (19) of Little Rock Arkansas for 2nd degree murder.
Wood was a US Sailor assigned to the destroyer Willard Keith that had arrived in New Bedford and was to remain for the July 4th celebrations. Wood had met Fuller at a local restaurant where she was a waitress. After working her shift, she and Wood returned to her Fairhaven apartment. While in the apartment, Fuller declined his sexual advances, and he strangled her in the bedroom.
At trial evidence collected at the scene was presented, including his wallet that was recovered in Fuller's bedroom. There were no witnesses and no other direct evidence indicating Wood was responsible for the death of Fuller. The jury deliberated 2 hours and 15 min, and acquitted him of all charges on March 21 1963. It was widely believed Wood did commit the crime.
Jackie Lee Wood Returns to Arkansas...Kills Again
On September 15 1964 Wood sexually assaulted then strangled Pamela Ann King (17) to death. King's naked body was discovered in a downtown Little Rock Arkansas motel room that was registered to Wood. Fingerprints from the scene matched Wood's fingerprints. He was arrested and charged with 1st degree murder. Wood plead innocent by reason of insanity, however he underwent court ordered competence testing and was deemed able to stand trial and was not insane.
On December 5 1964 after deliberating 2 hours the jury found Wood guilty and recommended a life sentence. In May 1967 Wood along with two (2) other prisoners escaped from the Tucker Prison Farm in Tucker Arkansas. The three (3) men had gained entry into a clothing locker and were able to obtain civilian clothing. They were armed and dangerous. After being located by authorities a shoot-out took place, wounding Wood and killing one of the other escape prisoners William Moore (23).
In 1982 Arkansas Governor Frank White granted Wood (now age 39) parole. Wood died in 2012 at age 67 in Pine Bluff Arkansas.
On June 30 1962 Ruth Fuller (40) was discovered strangled to death in her home at 53 Reynolds Street (street no longer exists). The investigation led to the arrest of Jackie Lee Wood (19) of Little Rock Arkansas for 2nd degree murder.
Wood was a US Sailor assigned to the destroyer Willard Keith that had arrived in New Bedford and was to remain for the July 4th celebrations. Wood had met Fuller at a local restaurant where she was a waitress. After working her shift, she and Wood returned to her Fairhaven apartment. While in the apartment, Fuller declined his sexual advances, and he strangled her in the bedroom.
At trial evidence collected at the scene was presented, including his wallet that was recovered in Fuller's bedroom. There were no witnesses and no other direct evidence indicating Wood was responsible for the death of Fuller. The jury deliberated 2 hours and 15 min, and acquitted him of all charges on March 21 1963. It was widely believed Wood did commit the crime.
Jackie Lee Wood Returns to Arkansas...Kills Again
On September 15 1964 Wood sexually assaulted then strangled Pamela Ann King (17) to death. King's naked body was discovered in a downtown Little Rock Arkansas motel room that was registered to Wood. Fingerprints from the scene matched Wood's fingerprints. He was arrested and charged with 1st degree murder. Wood plead innocent by reason of insanity, however he underwent court ordered competence testing and was deemed able to stand trial and was not insane.
On December 5 1964 after deliberating 2 hours the jury found Wood guilty and recommended a life sentence. In May 1967 Wood along with two (2) other prisoners escaped from the Tucker Prison Farm in Tucker Arkansas. The three (3) men had gained entry into a clothing locker and were able to obtain civilian clothing. They were armed and dangerous. After being located by authorities a shoot-out took place, wounding Wood and killing one of the other escape prisoners William Moore (23).
In 1982 Arkansas Governor Frank White granted Wood (now age 39) parole. Wood died in 2012 at age 67 in Pine Bluff Arkansas.
William A. Bennett Unsolved Murder 1916 William Bennett (48), a resident of Lynn Massachusetts, went fishing on Fish Island with his son-in-law Warren Gould and Mr. Gould’s half-brother George Simmons, Mr. Bennett realized he had forgotten his fishing box on the bridge. He went back to retrieve it, and the other men never saw him again. A witness, James Humphrey, told police that as he drove on Huttleston Avenue near the high school he saw “one man walk up to another, strike him, and run south on Main Street towards the centre of Fairhaven,” reads an article in the Fairhaven Star on 10/21/1916. Mr. Bennett died from a “hemorrhage within the skull” the on October 14, 1916. Police confirmed that Mr. Gould was at home with his family, a half mile from the crime scene, at the time of the assault. The theory is that his murder was a case of mistaken identity.
Bennett is buried in an unmarked grave in Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, MA.
Bennett is buried in an unmarked grave in Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, MA.