Denise Robert: 2015 Unsolved Homicide in Manchester, NH — Murder, She Told: Maine & New England True Crime

The Murder of Denise Robert

The day that Denise Robert was killed she went about her normal routine. It was the end of summer—August 30th—and it was a Sunday. In the afternoon, she went to her gym, Executive Health and Sport Center, which was commonly abbreviated, The Executive. Denise was physically fit her entire adult life, even at 62 years old. In her obituary, it said that she “always found a way to fit in some activity in the course of a day.”

At 6:00PM, Denise left the gym and went to a nearby retail area where she got some supplements at Vitamin Shoppe. She left there at 6:08PM and went next to Walmart, which was just a few blocks away. She left there at 7:07PM, and then hit the nearby Hannaford, leaving at 8:21PM, an hour after sundown.

She then drove north to Brookside Congregational Church, where she parked her car. She was driving a copper-colored Volvo S60, a 4-door sedan, which she was borrowing from the dealership (her car was currently being worked on). She left her purse in the car and just took her car key. It was around 8:45PM when she left the car. She was going for a nighttime walk.

The church is located just ¾ of a mile from Denise’s childhood home on Sagamore Street. The neighborhood where she was walking, called the “North End,” was very familiar to her. She had been walking there weekly for six years, and it was part of her childhood stomping grounds. At 9:00PM on a Sunday night, the neighborhood was dark and quiet, and Denise’s footsteps were quietly padding the pavement.

Denise was a brisk walker, and she was wearing a long-sleeved white and dark purple striped shirt, white denim shorts with a white belt, and white New Balance Sneakers.

Though the exact route that she took is unknown, at some point she ended up on Ray Street, at a location just south of Carpenter Street. It was at this point that neighbors heard what was later described as a “loud firecracker-type of noise.” It was a gunshot. Denise was shot in the head with a single round. She was killed instantly.

In very short order, a nearby resident phoned the police, reporting that there was “a person in the road.” The call came in around 9:00PM, within minutes of the gunshot.

Just around the corner from Denise was a man and three friends who were sitting on a brown leather couch that had been put out at the curb. Some reports indicate it was they who discovered her body and spoke to officers on their arrival. Curiously, in those few minutes, someone came by and picked up that couch.

In speaking with Tom Robert, Denise’s brother, he clarified that Denise was not found on the road itself, but just off the road in a small gravel parking spot that served a large property that faced Carpenter Street.

When the police arrived, there was little that could be done for Denise, so the investigation began right away. The bullet that struck her went all the way through—there was an entry and an exit wound. The police searched for a spent shell casing and found nothing. Initial attempts to find the bullet itself also left them empty-handed.

It didn’t appear that anything was missing from Denise’s person, so police didn’t suspect robbery as a motive.

In canvassing the neighborhood and talking to nearby pedestrians, police pieced together a crucial clue. There was a pickup truck seen leaving the area shortly after the gunshot. According to WMUR’s reporting, “a couple of neighbors said that they heard the sound of tires squealing right after the shot.” It was headed north on Ray Street—the street where Denise was found—it took a right and then another right onto Union Street and then headed down to Webster, which was a busy main drag, leaving the neighborhood. The Manchester chief of police later said that the pickup was “proceeding at a high rate of speed” and was observed “taking a wide right.” The truck was described as a mid-2000s one, possibly rust-colored. The driver of the truck was described as “a white man in his 20s or 30s, with close-cropped hair, wearing a white tank top.”

This crime happened in 2015, which is an era when front camera/doorbell combo devices (like Ring) were becoming commonplace. The area surrounding the crime scene is residential, and the police put out the word to all residents to send them any footage from Sunday evening. Recovering the bullet and recovering video footage seemed to be the main focus of the investigation.

About Denise Robert

At 3:00AM that night, Denise’s brother, Tom, was awakened by a loud knocking at the door. The Manchester PD had come to inform him of his sister’s death. Tom soon notified Denise’s mother and the rest of the siblings.

Denise had a big family—she was one of 12 children. She was the first born of the family in 1952, and the first to die at the age of 62. She was in great health having had prioritized physical fitness throughout her life. Her violent death came as a complete shock to the family.

Denise had worked in newspaper ad sales for over 30 years, having started at The Neighborhood News, which published a number of local weeklies. That organization was later acquired by the New Hampshire Union Leader, where Denise continued to work until her death. Denise, working in outside sales, was constantly on the road, pounding the pavement, talking to small business owners across the community. Jay St. Jean, co-owner of a local auction company, remembered Denise fondly, saying, “She was always dressed to the nines, always had a smile on her face, always had a story, always falling asleep, and always bumping into someone with her car. She was one of the kindest, gentlest souls I knew in my life.” Jeff Rapsis, former editor and general manager of Denise’s employer, Neighborhood News, said, “She was nonstop from dawn to dusk. She was so full of energy you’d get energized by her.”

The investigation over the years

A few weeks after Denise’s murder, there was yet another search with metal detectors, which turned up a rusty nail, old pennies, other coins and part of a sprinkler system, but no bullet.

Even then-presidential candidate Hilary Clinton spoke about Denise. She was at a town hall meeting at Manchester Community College, speaking out against gun violence, and she spoke briefly about Denise’s case, saying her heart breaks for the family every time she thinks of it.

On November 5th, police conducted yet another search. Cops laid out, with red cording, a large grid area at a property that was about 200 feet away from where she was killed—66 Carpenter. Police used metal detectors on the ground in the grid area, and even used them on trees. They didn’t report on what—if anything—was recovered, but the bullet was not among the things found.

Six months after the murder, in February of 2016, Chief Willard said that detectives continued to work on the case. He reiterated his belief that the crime was not random.

In February of 2017, a special task force between the attorney general’s office and Manchester PD was formed to investigate Denise’s death. It included one Manchester detective, and two detectives working for the AG, one of whom was a retired officer from Massachusetts who had worked on the Whitey Bulger case.

In May, they returned to the crime scene and conducted yet another search with metal detectors, this time focusing on 63 Carpenter Street, which was the property on which Denise’s body was found.

The final public action taken by law enforcement in the case of Denise Robert happened in October of 2017. Chief Willard, joined by Attorney General of New Hampshire, Gordon MacDonald, announced the execution of a search warrant in connection with Denise’s murder, at a residence in Londonderry, 13 miles south of where she was killed. The search was performed at a duplex home on a small body of water known as Kendall Pond. The Union Leader interviewed the resident there, Cindy, and she said that the search dealt with someone who no longer lived there, but that she had been storing their things for them. It’s unclear why the search was done or what they were looking for.

3 years later, the case long having gone quiet, Denise’s mother passed in 2020 at the age of 90. Denise was living with her mother when she was murdered in 2015.

Denise’s sister, Francoise, said, “She was somewhat of a mother’s helper.” Being part of such a large family, the oldest kids would help take care of the youngest—getting them ready for school in the mornings and for bed in the evenings. The eldest children had a lot of responsibility. Denise, when she could find time for herself, took ballet classes and art classes. She was a hard worker from the time she was a child, getting her first job at 14, in true New England style, at Dunkin Donuts.

Her brother, John, told Murder, She Told that he remembered the cards that she would send for holidays and birthdays. She would often draw a little portrait of him, and he said it always made him feel special—that she would take so much time from her busy life and use her drawing skills for him.

Denise had an impact on even those with whom she had but a passing relationship. An anonymous commenter on her online obituary, wrote, “Twenty years ago, when I worked in the deli at Hannaford, she was, without exaggeration, my favorite customer. She was always kind and polite and had this “joy” about her that made you think she was having a great a day.”

The Union Leader said it beautifully in a retrospective article published in 2023, when they described her as their “beloved colleague, and all-around classy grande dame.”

If you have any information on the murder of Denise Robert, please contact the Manchester Police Department Crimeline at (603) 624-4040 or submit an anonymous tip online. As of August 2025, a $10k reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Denise's killer.

This text has been adapted from the Murder, She Told podcast episode, Who Killed Denise Robert. To hear Denise’s full story, find Murder, She Told on your favorite podcast platform.

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Denise Robert, with her mother Jeannine in middle, unknown on right (Joe Robert)

Crime scene, we believe to be the night of Denise’s murder

Google street view of crime scene of Denise Robert, the small gravel drive on the left is where her body was found (google.com)

Manchester PD Chief of Police Nick Willard, led initial response to Denise’s murder (WMUR)

One-year anniversary (Union Leader, via deniserobert.org)

Metal detectors were extensively used by police in searching for the missing bullet

Crime scene, aerial view, during subsequent search for bullet (CBS Boston)

Sources For This Episode

Newspaper articles

Various articles from Associated Press, the Concord Monitor, The Telegraph, and the Union Leader, here.

Written by various authors including Casey McDermott, Cassidy Jensen, Chris Garofolo, Dan Tuohy, Doug Alden, Jamie Costa, Kevin Landrigan, Kimberly Houghton, Mark Hayward, Pat Grossmith , Paul Feely, and Shawne Wickham.

Online written

'Police seek leads in Manchester homicide' (Seacoast Online), 8/31/2015, by AP

'Denise J. Robert' (Find a Grave), 9/1/2015, by Anonymous-59

'Union Leader advertising rep. killed in Manchester shooting' (WMUR9 ABC), 9/1/2015, by Adam Sexton

'Manchester, NH, Police Ask For Public's Help Solving Woman's Murder' (WBZ CBS News), 9/1/2015

'Denise J. Robert' (Current Obituary), 9/2/2015

'Denise J Robert' (Legacy), 9/2/2015

'Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest & Conviction of the Person(s) Who Murdered Denise Robert' (NH Department of Justice), 9/2/2015

'Reward offered in shooting death of woman out for a walk' (WCVB5 Boston News), 9/2/2015

'Reward Issued in Denise Robert Murder Case' (Patch), 9/2/2015, by Tony Schinella

'NH Woman Slain During Neighborhood Walk Laid To Rest' (WBZ CBS News), 9/4/2015

'Streets closed during search for clues in woman's killing' (WCVB5 Boston News), 11/5/2015