The Murder And The Miracle

Mont Vernon is a small town in Hillsborough County, southern New Hampshire, about an hour and a quarter from Boston. It was named for Mount Vernon in Virginia after George Washington but spelt without the U from the start; a hotel owner, George Kitteridge, had the U added in the late 1800s and it was removed again after his death. Settled for farming, the town declined after the Civil War and is now a quiet, affluent commuter community of 2,580 people with very low crime. The murder was the first in town since an 1840 tavern brawl.

David Cates was an engineer with BAE Systems, often away on business. His wife Kimberly, 42 in 2009, was a paediatric nurse at two local hospitals. Their only child, Jamie, was 11, a straight-A student and soccer player who had taken karate for years. The family had moved from Ohio around 2003 or 2004, choosing Mont Vernon because it was safe, and lived on Trow Road in a large house on several acres with an alarm system.

David was out of town over the weekend of 3 and 4 October 2009. At about 3 a.m. on Sunday 4 October a light was shone in Kimberly's face as she slept. She sat up, thinking it was her daughter, and said, 'Jamie, is that you?' She was attacked with a machete, struck 36 times, and stabbed in the neck and torso with a second knife. Jamie, asleep in the same bed, jumped up towards the attacker and was stabbed 18 times before being thrown across the room into a glass door.

The attackers believed both of them were dead and searched the house for valuables, taking several pieces of jewellery. Jamie lay still and pretended to be dead while they went through the house. When they had gone she dragged herself to the kitchen and called 911. She could barely speak and whispered, 'They killed my mommy.' The dispatcher then heard a crash and silence as she collapsed.

Milford police sergeant Kevin Furlong arrived first, saw Jamie through the front window and smashed the door in. Part of her left foot was missing, her jaw was fractured and her throat was cut, but she was conscious and told officers to look in the bedroom, where they found Kimberly dead. Jamie was flown to a children's hospital in Boston and survived; part of her foot was amputated and some stab wounds had come close to her heart. The autopsy recorded 36 blows, a skull split nearly in half and evisceration. None of the injuries was individually lethal; she bled to death and was probably aware through most of the attack.

All Jamie could tell investigators was that she had seen a white man and there was more than one attacker. Police looked first at the husband, but before they could interview him Carol Fenton called: she had overheard her son Kyle's friends at her house saying they had done it, and Kyle had told her too. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He claimed to have killed 28 people. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed He had worked towards becoming a missionary but had mental health problems and a history of animal abuse. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

In the weeks before the attack they researched how to make chloroform. The plan was to incapacitate the occupants, tie them up, take them elsewhere, torture them for financial information and kill them. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Late-night texts dealt with acetone, gloves, rope and bin bags.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The others removed a window air-conditioning unit, climbed in and unlocked the basement door. They shut off the electricity at the breaker box and went from room to room by the light of iPods and phones. In the master bedroom they attacked Kimberly and Jamie.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Afterwards they searched the house and took jewellery. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it At about 5.30 a.m. they threw their bloody clothes and unsellable stolen items into the Nashua River. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed That afternoon they bragged at Kyle Fenton's house; his mother Carol heard and called the police.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

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this part of the story is covered for now The defence argued there was no forensic evidence and that the co-defendants had cut deals and told contradictory stories. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it In 2013, after changes in the law for juvenile offenders, he was resentenced to life plus 76 years consecutive, having refused to cooperate. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed A forensic psychiatrist said there was no mental illness and it was a thrill kill. His mother testified that she had once spanked him hard enough to break a wooden spoon but denied other alleged abuse. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

David and Jamie Cates stayed in the house on Trow Road and Jamie later moved out to go to college. They bought a guard dog and a better alarm system. An annual golf tournament was established in Kimberly's name, with the proceeds going to scholarship funds, and the Kimberly Cates Memorial Scholarship Fund gives $25,000 scholarships to Souhegan High School seniors going into medicine and healthcare. details of the account remain covered until revealed He planned to live at his mother's house and was working two restaurant jobs at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Jamie is in her twenties, a college graduate working in healthcare, and says she has moved on.