The Murder of George Jodoin

Kyle Dobrie looks at the murder of George Jodoin. Jodoin was discovered in his Auburn, NH home and his death was ruled a homicide. 

Transcript

For most families, the holiday season is filled with gatherings, presents, and good food. But in December of 2001, a New Hampshire family heard the news that no family wants to hear.. 

2 days after Christmas, George Jodoin was found dead in his home in Auburn New Hampshire. He was alone at his house, with no leads as to what happened. This is the story of the murder of George Jodoin, you’re listening to Gone Cold NH, and my name is Kyle Dobrie. 

(Insert Fissure Forming here) 

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Fissure Forming by <a href="https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/139133">Blue Dot Sessions</a> (Intro) 

This case was quite interesting to research, but also very frustrating..as there are so many dead ends. Typically, a murder in New Hampshire means that State Police are involved in the investigation. But even with advanced technolgy – this case still went cold.  

 Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati who oversees the cold case unit explains how a case lands on their list of unsolved murders and missing persons.  

[Agati] “For a case to go cold, it really has to have a time period of 2 years of no new tips, no new leads, and no new investigative avenues that can be pursued. So, that’s gonna take a while. That realistically we have some cases that have gone cold as soon as maybe 4 years, but that’s a rarity.” 

The cold case unit started looking into George Jodoin’s death 10 years after that Christmas season in 2001. And four years later.. They found the killer. 

“Piano sound settles in” 

https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/sounds/170207/ 

Before we talk about who was found responsible, I want to tell you about who George Jodoin was. 

A photo of him in a local newspaper shows that George was handsome with a scruffy beard, and long, slicked back hair. He looked like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, a very attractive man..  

He had a little space between his front teeth. He  was a realtor who wore very fancy clothes almost all of the time. 

George was a very interesting man..And according to every article, he was a hit with women... but never wanted to settle down. 

Pglet Into by <a href="https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/141656">Blue Dot Sessions</a> 

For work, George kept busy with a few jobs. He bought properties and flipped them to make profit. 

He also owned a pawn shop and interacted with regulars who were looking to make some cash. 

Given that both of these jobs involved a lot of interaction with people, it’s clear that he was an outgoing guy. 

But even though he was outgoing, he still kept to himself. He lived alone in his home in Auburn, New Hampshire. 

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https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/sounds/164841/ 

Auburn is a rural town that has been seeing a population increase within the past 10 years. It is a beautiful mix between nature and human population. The leaves change into a magnificent sight, as the breeze swirls through the air the smell of nature takes over. The open lands are amazing, with no big cities or too many cars driving through. The sweet sounds of the birds chirping and crickets in the background are what makes Auburn what it is. The small town in New Hampshire is very special to George.  

George was involved in a lot of business with a lot of different people. So, when he was tragically murdered in his own home in Auburn, it raised a lot of questions for the police. The primary suspects were the people he worked with, since they are most connected with George. The two primary suspects in this case were guys by the name of Authur Collins and Rick Carron. Collins did a lot of business with George, and Carron was a very close friend of George. 

But why would a business associate or close friend want to kill George Jodoin? 

[Strelzin] “The police as they do in these cases, did a lot of background information about the victim to try to figure out did he have any enemies, any friends, to put together a 24–48-hour background on him 

That’s the lead prosecutor of this case, Jeff Strelzin.  

Strelzin came into the picture in 2011, that’s 10 years after the murder.  

In the case file, Collins had originally passed polygraph tests and sat through interviews with investigators. But that didn’t stop Strelzin from taking another look. 

[Strelzin] We went through the case file, and decided to talk to everyone who was around the victim at the time, and that included Authur Collins” 

At this point, investigators had ruled out Rick Carrons involvement. 

Throughout the questioning of Collins, the new investigators found many loose ends to his alibi. Strelzin said his timeline recapping the events of the night George died, simply didn’t add up.  

[Strelzin] “There were interviews done in between to figure out whether or not his alibi was true or not, and there were many inconsistencies found.” 

Insert suspenseful music 

https://freesound.org/people/Setuniman/sounds/170207/ 

Let me tell you a bit about George’s connection to Authur Collins.  

Collins did a lot of work with George. He was a handyman who did small jobs, and they were seemingly friends who spent time together. Most importantly, they were together the night George was killed. 

Collins is a middle-aged white man, with a generic scruffy goatee, and short bangs and long hair in the back.  

He is overweight, with dark hair. In photos we never see him smile. He has sweaty glaze on his face. 
 

Stale Case by <a href="https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/141659">Blue Dot Sessions</a> 

Now, Let’s talk about the night of the murder. 

It was a cold night in Auburn and George Jodoin invited Authur Collins over for some drinks. They went outside while the sun was still shining and shot some targets with pistols. The sound of the guns didn’t alarm any neighbors, since there are thick woods around George’s house.  

Remember how Strelzin mentioned the timeline not matching up? First, Collins said he left after a few drinks. 

But after a few failed polygraph tests, Collins told investigators what really happened.  

[Strelzin] “He then admitted to killing George Jodoin” 

PlainGrey by <a href="https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/141661">Blue Dot Sessions</a> 

Eventually, more than a decade after the murder, Collins said the two went back inside after shooting guns, had some drinks, and then.. Jodoin tried to make a sexual move.  

After that failed polygraph, Collins admitted that he was so angry about this incident that he came back to George's home.  

Jodoin was passed out in bed. Defenseless. 

Authur Collins then shot George Jodoin 3 times in the head. 

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https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_2304/sounds/7060/ 

Killed in cold blood. 

Authur then fled the scene, with the fear that we would be caught. He hid the murder weapon under tools in the trunk of a car, and eventually got the car demolished. Collins stuck with his  alibi for 15 years. 

Until police went very deep into it and realized that the timeline didn’t make sense. So Collins eventually admitted to killing George. 

You might wonder, how did the neighbors not hear a thing? 

Georges home in Auburn was surrounded by woods with neighbors far apart, as many are in that town. According to investigators, they had heard the original gunshots from the shooting targets outside but didn’t hear anything after that. 

Insert Closet Interlude 

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After Collins admitted to killing George in 2015, it was a shock to family, and investigators that had been looking for answers for 14 years.  

Remember, Collins had passed interviews and polygraph tests back in 2001..  

But the polygraphs given years later, led to a confession. 

Collins told investigators 3 different times that he had killed George.  

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As you can imagine, this case was covered heavily by New Hampshire media. In court, Collins' defense team went with the guilty plea, but that is not what he wanted. Collins claimed that his defense team was not working with him, but since he confessed on 3 different occasions and didn’t show any evidence of him being innocent, the judge refused to set aside the guilty plea. 

After pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2015, he was sentenced to 30 years in the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility.  

I tried to reach out to the Prison Warden but didn’t hear back.  

But we know that today, he remains behind bars in the same state where he led invigators on a chase for 14 years. 

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Collins will be eligible for parole in 2042.