Dean Murder project

Transferred to jaffreyhistory.org 8 October 2022.
Last Updated: 6 May 2019.

See also SmugMug

For phone inquiries: 603-598-0120

MONDAY'S PERFORMANCE IS SOLD OUT!
SUNDAY'S MATINEEE IS SOLD OUT!
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS FOR SATURDAY'S PERFORMANCE. Jaffrey Civic Center, Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce and Historical Society of Cheshire County only.

There may be unsold tickets available at the door before each performance.

• Deep Water, an original play by Ken Sheldon, will be performed in the Jaffrey Meetinghouse on Monday, August 13 (PERFORMANCE SOLD OUT), and Saturday, August 18, at 7:30pm and a matinee at 2pm on Sunday August 19 (PERFORMANCE SOLD OUT). Ticket sales commenced on July 6, following Mark Bean's talk at the Amos Fortune Forum.
Tickets for the remaining performances are available at the Jaffrey Civic Center, Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene.

See some scenes from the dress rehearsal.

See some scenes from the premiere performance on the 100th anniversary of the murder—August 13, 2018.

Program

• Mark Bean launched the 2018 season of the Amos Fortune Forum with a standing-room-only talk on the Dean Murder on Friday, July 6th.

• A commemorative six-page supplement to the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript summarizing the Dean Murder and its many absorbing details appeared on Tuesday, July 31st.

• An exhibit at the Jaffrey Civic Center will open August 10th at 4 p.m. and run through September 7, 2018, and feature photographs, documents, objects and artifacts associated with the Dean Murder.

• "Teasers" in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript beginning in April and ending on the 31st of July.

The Dean Murder Jaffrey Town History, Vol III, Pp 176-79.

Hearing by the Grand Jury on the Death of William K. Dean transcribed, edited and published by Margaret C. Bean.

Prominent Citizen: Prime Suspect by Georgiana Hodgkins.

The Dean Murder Mystery by Bert Ford.
Also a link to the Google-scanned copy which is available from the Hathi Trust Digital Library

Proud and Angry Dust by D. Sweeney, August 1981. An unpublshed manuscript in the possession of the Jaffrey Historical Society.

OTHER BOOKS:

Lights from Monadnock, Jack Coey.
Two Legged Foxes, Jack Coey.

Who Murdered "Dr." Dean? An article by Geoffrey Elan appearing in Yankee Magazine, February 1959.

Who Killed Dr. Dean? An article by Edwards Park appearing in Yankee Magazine, June 1987.

The Ultimate Whodunit A review of Hearing by the Grand Jury on the Death of William K. Dean by Margaret C. Bean (see above) by Sumner Kean appearing in Yankee Magazine, June 1990.

The Death of Dr. Dean–A Novella A review of Jack Coey's book by Steve Sherman in the Keene Sentinel, June 27, 2018.

Who Killed Dr. Dean? Jaffrey Historical Society seeks information about century-old slaying An article by Paul Cuno-Booth in the Keene Sentinel, February 20, 2018.

Who Killed William Dean? A Tale of Spies, Swindlers and Politicians An article appearing on the New England Historical Society website—http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/—2016.

A Cold Case in Jaffrey: a 1918 Murder An article in The Equinox by Skyler Frazer, January 13, 2015.

Murder Mystery Blurs the Line between Fact and Fiction An article in Concord Monitor by Rebecca Rule, April 6, 2008. Appears to have been removed from the Monitor's website.

The Unsolved Murder of Dr. Dean in Jaffrey in 1918 An article in the Keene Sentinel by Amber Stronk, April 4, 2004.

A Long-Lasting Mystery An article by Kelly Stimmell on the Dean Murder in the Monadnock Ledger, September 8, 1994.

Jaffrey Bicentennial issue of the Monadnock Ledger with a feature article on the Dean Murder (1973).

A variety of photographs and records

Margaret Bean's talk on the Dean Murder at the Amos Fortune Forum

Mark Bean's paper

Margaret Bean and David Kelley correspondence

Miscellaneous Correspondence

Dean genealogy by Paul St Pierre.

Colfelt genealogy by Paul St Pierre.

Rev. Herbert A. Hennon genealogy by Paul St Pierre.

Scanned Town Files Processing completed.

Scanned FBI records Galleries 1, 2 , 3 and 4 are complete. An index/database is now available.

Scanned Goddard records This collection of a variety of notes, letters, clippings, drawings, postcards, etc., is contained in three loose-leaf binders and were donated to the Jaffrey Historical Society (No. 2014-006-001) in 2013 by Helen Gorzocoski of Northfield, Ma. She is a relative of William Goddard who was a nephew of Dr. Dean (his mother was Dean's sister). Processing completed.

A portion of the New Hampshire Public Television 1997 production of The Mysteries of New Hampshire" focusing on the Dean Murder. Alfred Sawyer narrates. Lee Sawyer portrays Dr. Dean. Cathy Driscoll portrays Mrs. Morison.

Fritz Wetherbee's take on the subject. This is an audio segment on the Dean Murder that appears on the record album entitled: "A Collection of Historical Moments of Southern New Hampshire by Fritz Wetherbee." Issued by Rabbit Records, 1983. Used with permission from Fritz Wetherbee, 2015.

A YouTube video on the Dean Murder. Published on April 20, 2012. "A short clip from the Jaffrey Historical Society where the story of the unsolved murder of Dr. William Dean. Items from the murder scene are displayed and discussed. Was he murdered by German spies? The town banker?"

Powerpoint presentation (pdf version). This presentation has been given at the Historical Society of Cheshire County, Keene Public Library and elsewhere.

Powerpoint presentation (pdf version). This presentation was given at Rivermead in Peterborough on February 28, 2018.

One of three videos No. 1: The Dean Murder, Conversations with Homer Belletete, Archie Letourneau and Margaret Bean. March 6, 1990.

One of three videos No. 2: The Dean Murder, Further conversations with Homer Belletete, Archie Letourneau and Margaret Bean. April 11, 1990.

One of three videos No. 3: The Dean Murder, a Play (1994) Conant High School.

Dean Murder Research Group A group of a dozen or so researchers and authors who share information on the Dean Murder. By invitation only.

Two grants have been made to the Society by the Bean Family Foundation in support of efforts to recognize appropriately the centenary of the unsolved Dean Murder that occurred in Jaffrey on the night of August 13, 1918.

• A video documentary [no longer planned]
• A website [accomplished]
• Digitizing records, articles, books and images [in process]
• A book [no longer planned]
• An exhibition [At the Jaffrey Civic Center during August]
• A conference [no longer planned]
• A lecture [Mark Bean spook on the murder at the Amos Fortune Forum]
• A dramatic production [Set for August 13, 18 and 19 in the Meetinghouse]
• Newspaper teasers [Began in April; completed]