Everett Delano/New Hampshire Dept. of Justice Office of the Attorney General website
Cold Case of the Month: Everett Delano was killed on September 1, 1966, during an apparent robbery at a gas station. Delano was in the office where the cash register was kept. He wasn’t even supposed to be at Sanborn’s Garage in Andover. He was doing the regular attendant, who was off to take a school bus driving test, a favor.
Delano was shot at close range. The bullet hole lodged in the ceiling. State Police think he was shot by someone he knew.
Despite all police efforts, the case remains unsolved.
I have not been able to find
- how much money (if any) was stolen,
- whether the garage owner had any enemies or had experienced any previous robbery attempts,
- what else was stolen (if anything),
- whether the regular attendant was cleared,
- whether there were other gas station robberies in the area, and
- whether the bullet and/or cash register have been preserved. If so, we could re-examine the cash register with modern technology in hopes of finding prints and run them against the NH databases.
Lewiston Daily Sun part 1
Delano’s cold case is possibly the oldest in New Hampshire. There might be older cases but police records only date back to 1966. Another famous New Hampshire case is the unsolved homicide of Laura Kempton.
On September 28, 1981, a now retired officer found Laura (23) dead inside her apartment. In this case, police have indicated that they have held back evidence including DNA. This means that the case is solvable however, no match has been found yet in the various databases. In the Delano case, there does not seem to be any held back evidence.
There is little hope that Delano’s killer will be brought to justice based on just what police reportedly have on file. It is going to take credible witnesses but most likely, the only piece of evidence that will hold in court is a confession. And even if there is a living suspect there are no guarantees that a trial will end in a conviction. An example is the case of the Hina Family Murders that features here on DCC.
Lewiston Daily Sun part 2
The New Hampshire authorities charged David McLeod in 2010 with the arson that killed the Hina family in 1989 in Keene. However, the jury could not reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared in December 2013. Prosecutors said they won’t retry McLeod.
I cannot find anything about Everett not even simple details such as his full name or his age, whether he was married, what he did in his spare time, etc. If you have anything you can share about Everett, please let me know.
If you have any information that can help police, please contact the New Hampshire State Police toll-free at (800) 525-5555 or call your local police/sheriff department at 911.
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In the series “Case of the Month” I highlight old cold cases. These posts are not an in-depth analysis and of course, sometimes more information can be found online and in newspaper archives. The goal of these posts is to get the cases back in the spotlights, to get people talking again, and if anything to make sure that we do not forget the victims. Just because their cases are cold does not mean that we can forget about them.
If you have any thoughts about this case I encourage you to post them on your own social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc. Every time that we mention Everett’s name online we enhance his digital footprint.
We must make sure that Everett retains a web presence if we ever wish to find answers in his case. You can help by linking to or sharing this post.
Thank you for remembering Everett Delano with us.
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Resources:
New Hampshire Dept. of Justice Office of the Attorney General
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