FILE 145 / 14 November 2019 / 163 MIN / full

Killing, Cover Up & A LOT of Sex Toys

Fremont, New HampshireListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We're going all the way up to New Hampshire this week... we're going to Freemont, New Hampshire. It's southeastern New Hampshire, kind of a little outside of Manchester. about 0:04:59

History, in brief

1623

Europeans first came to the Rockingham County area in 1623.

about 0:08:46

1679

The area's government was linked with Massachusetts until New Hampshire became a separate colony in 1679.

about 0:08:53

Town note

New Hampshire did not have counties for another hundred years.

about 0:09:03

Town note

Fremont was settled in the 1720s and was first part of the town of Exeter.

about 0:09:48
All 16 history facts

1623

Europeans first came to the Rockingham County area in 1623.

about 0:08:46

1679

The area's government was linked with Massachusetts until New Hampshire became a separate colony in 1679.

about 0:08:53

Town note

New Hampshire did not have counties for another hundred years.

about 0:09:03

Town note

Fremont was settled in the 1720s and was first part of the town of Exeter.

about 0:09:48

Town note

The area was famous for heavy growth of eastern white pine, reserved as mast wood for the British al Navy.

about 0:09:56

1734

In 1734 the surveyor general David Dunbar visited the mill to inspect the lumber and local citizens fired shots at him until he left.

about 0:11:07

Town note

Dunbar returned with ten men and was attacked again; the citizens disguised themselves as Native Americans and the group dispersed to a local tavern.

about 0:11:32

Town note

The episode was known as the Mast Tree Riot and has a plaque.

about 0:12:35

1764

The township was granted in 1764 and the governor named it Poplin.

about 0:12:58

1853

Poplin petitioned the legislature in 1853 and became Fremont in 1854, named after General John C. Fremont.

about 0:13:08

1856

John C. Fremont was the first candidate of the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1856.

about 0:13:43

1800

The town has a meeting house built in 1800 that is still in perfect condition and is on the national register of historic places.

about 0:14:20

Town note

Fremont was once home to the largest brickyard in the state, producing five million bricks a year.

about 0:14:35

1874

Spalding and Frost Cooperage, established in 1874, is one of the oldest operating wooden barrel manufacturers in the country.

about 0:15:24

1976

In 1976 Spalding and Frost Cooperage built the largest barrel in the world, 15 feet high and ten feet wide.

about 0:16:22

1998

In 1998 the Red Hook brewery in Portsmouth built a barrel 17 feet high and eight feet wide.

about 0:17:11

The figures, as told

Religious

39%

Biggest faith: Catholic residents, 29%

about 0:25:17

Who lives here

White 96.3% · Asian 1.8% · Black 0.0% · Hispanic 1.1%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▼ less than half

about 0:33:01

Violent crime
▼ about half

about 0:33:18

Money

Median home value$295,900
Two-bedroom rentabout $2,040
Median household income$90,709
Cost of living122

For sale

$134,000

Three-bedroom, two-bath manufactured home, 1,404 sq ft

about 0:28:13

For sale

$299,000

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,568 sq ft

about 0:28:25

For sale

$469,900

Four-bedroom, three-bath house, 2,700 sq ft on Lovers Lane

about 0:28:45
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2019

Property crime

"less than half"

Comparison: "the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:33:01

Violent crime

"about half"

Comparison: "the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:33:18

Population

"4,580"

Comparison: "up 78% since 1990". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:25

Median age

"about 45 and a half"

Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:53

Married residents

"67%"

Comparison: "usually 50-50". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:14

Single with no children

"3.2%"

Comparison: "usually 10%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:20

White residents

"96.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:27

Asian residents

"1.8%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:47

Black residents

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:50

Hispanic residents

"1.1%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:50

Unemployment

"2.7%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:50

County voters, Democrat

"44%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:32

County voters, Republican

"50%"

Comparison: "last election". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:32

Independent voters

"6%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:42

Religious residents

"39%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:17

Catholic residents

"29%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:17

Jewish residents

"0.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:27

Muslim residents

"0.0%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:27

Median household income

"$90,709"

Comparison: "$57,000 in the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:13

Residents making over $200,000 a year

"13%"

Comparison: "double the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:17

Cost of living

"122"

Comparison: "100 is the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:48

Median home cost

"$295,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:56

Houses built before 1939

"34%"

Comparison: "usually like 10%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:11

Homes valued between $200,000 and $300,000

"about 45%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:22

Average two-bedroom rent

"about $2,040"

Comparison: "$1,200 average". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:55

Three-bedroom, two-bath manufactured home, 1,404 sq ft

"$134,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:13

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,568 sq ft

"$299,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:25

Four-bedroom, three-bath house, 2,700 sq ft on Lovers Lane

"$469,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:28:45

The reviews

3.3 / 5 · average of 3

3 stars

“There are rare acts of vandalism such as breaking mailboxes, but the police officers are responsive; the neighbourhood kids speed past the house and the area is dark, though most neighbours keep outside lights on.”
about 0:17:58

2 stars

“People either want nothing to do with you or the local housewife needs to know everything about you so she can have her afternoon tea with a side of drama.”
about 0:21:23

5 stars

“Crime is not really a thing in Fremont, and nothing like Englewood, where you would hear gunshots every night.”
about 0:22:18

In New Hampshire

Closest episodes

  1. The Orbit Of A KillerEpping, New Hampshire · 11 October 20174 km / 2 miShow on map
  2. The Dumbest Murder ConspiracyDeerfield, New Hampshire · 10 April 202619 km / 12 miShow on map
  3. Love Thy NeighborHampton, New Hampshire · 24 December 202025 km / 16 miShow on map
  4. Who Tasted The Blood?Salem, New Hampshire · 22 April 202325 km / 16 miShow on map
  5. Kinky Killer CoupleDover, New Hampshire · 30 November 202428 km / 17 miShow on map

The story

His girlfriend, Maria Zarate, was the mother of two of his children. Also living in the house was Joanna Kozak, 38, who watched the children, answered the phone and did odd jobs in exchange for room and board.

Kozak had arrived from Virginia as a fugitive.

He told Zarate that Kozak had packed her belongings and run off during the ride because she was a fugitive and thought the police were closing in. He then told her that he had killed Kozak. According to Zarate, he said he had done it for his family, his business, himself and her.

The story he told was that he had taken Kozak to an isolated corner of Scribner cemetery in Raymond, the next town, where they had sex. He asked her to lie face down, handcuffed her hands behind her back, pulled down her stockings so that she could not stand, and beat her about the back of the head with a bar from a weight set. He pressed the bar against her throat and stood on it until she stopped breathing. They disposed of her belongings as well. He later took Zarate to the spot, told her that the head was right where she was standing, and said he was going to urinate on the body. Zarate spat on the grave and told Kozak that she had been the one who called her stupid.

She then decided to leave, went to Manchester Airport to fly back to Florida, and from there telephoned the Epping Police Department to report that a crime had been committed at Scribner cemetery in Raymond. In November the FBI interviewed her and she told the whole story.

By then the police had another reason to look at the house. Donna Blackburn, a 30-year-old woman, had been hired to replace Kozak as nanny. She told a friend, the friend called the police, and the investigation into the household began.

It also turned up bondage photographs, a videotape of child pornography, 107 dildos, a computer disc labelled 'Killings', another labelled 'How to abduct a child', blank Massachusetts driving licences, two electronic voice disguisers, a video camera and a pistol. Police also believed he had been running a false-licence business on the side.

The fingertips were gone. An autopsy showed that she had died from repeated blows to the back of the head and strangulation.

Donna Blackburn, who had moved to Kentucky, was the key witness, but the prosecutor, Carleton Eldridge, did not subpoena her because he regarded her as a friendly witness who would appear voluntarily. Eldridge had a history of criticism over his handling of rape cases and had said publicly that there was a biological element to rape, comparing female resistance to the behaviour of deer and elk. He was re-elected.

She described the killing, the severed fingertips, the pepper and the visit to the grave.

Kozak's mother, Katy Kozak, said she hoped he would live to be 120. Joanna Kozak is buried at Christ Church cemetery in Maryland; she had not spoken to her parents in five years before her death.

The case

Murder of Joanna Kozak

Victims

Joanna Kozak (38). live-in nanny and odd-job assistant in household; wanted in Virginia for sexually assaulting daughter

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 14 November 2019.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Maria Zarate. girlfriend, mother of two of his children, and the state's lead witness
Donna Blackburn. 30-year-old replacement nanny; witnessed assault his daughter and was beaten by
Katy Kozak. Joanna Kozak's mother

The timeline

  1. 1990 and Maria Zarate move to Fremont, New Hampshire, and Joanna Kozak moves in with them shortly afterwards. ( house)about 1:22:29
  2. January 1991 New Hampshire's Division for Children and Youth Services tells Virginia not to send the children for a visit because the home is not safe. ( house)about 1:23:06
  3. 1991 The children come from Virginia for a visit lasting a few months despite the warning. ( house)about 1:23:36
  4. May 1992 Maria Zarate and Joanna Kozak fight physically as their animosity grows. ( house)about 2:10:35
  5. June 27, 1992 and Kozak leave the house on a single dirt bike for a ride through the woods. ( house)about 0:50:21
  6. June 1992 has sex with Kozak in an isolated corner of Scribner cemetery, handcuffs her face down, beats her with a weight bar and presses the bar on her throat until she dies. (Scribner cemetery)about 1:01:09

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode