Why is the Carmel, Maine area so murdery, by murders?

Carmel is a town of 2,828 people in Penobscot County, Maine, about twenty minutes from Bangor. A man from Hampton bought the township in 1795 and started selling lots with the idea of having a town, and the name came from the prophet Elijah's experience on Mount Carmel. It ranks 63rd overall and second in Maine.

The six murders come from three episodes and three towns. Episode 653, aired in 2025, carries four of them in Carmel itself, with cases from July 1977, October 1982, May 1996 and April 2000. Twenty three years separate the first of those from the last. One began as a family bowling outing with three children, a mother and a stepfather, and a change jar forgotten at home.

The other two are single victims in single episodes. Old Town is 17 miles from Carmel and had a case in May 2013. Hartland is 24 miles out with one from October 1999, and both sit near the 25 mile limit.