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The Murders on Smuttynose Island
A robbery gone awry ends with two horrific murders
Smuttynose Island in Kittery, Maine is located 6 miles off the New Hampshire coast among the Isles of Shoals. It gets its unusual name from fishermen who thought the heavy seaweed on one end resembled the “smutty nose” of an enormous sea creature.
What the island is truly known for though is much darker. On March 6, 1873, two Norwegian women were murdered there. Karen Christensen was bludgeoned to death and her sister-in-law, Anethe Christensen, was strangled. A third woman, Maren Hontvet, got away. The hiding place she chose saved her and came to be known as “Maren’s Rock” in later years.
It was Maren who identified the killer, Louis Wagner. He worked as a fisherman after having migrated from Germany, his country of birth. Wagner eked out a living by fishing the coastal waters, barely making enough to survive. When he met John and Maren Hontvet, they wanted to help him. They made sure he had food and warm clothes. Eventually, he was included in John’s fishing business, which was far more successful.
So, how did this trusted friend become a killer? Let’s talk about the Hontvets and the events that led up to the murders.
The Hontvets had come to Smuttynose Island from Norway in 1868. At the time of their arrival, they were the only people living there. John saw an opportunity available and seized it. Each day he went out in a schooner named the Clara Bella and collected fish from his trawl lines, reset them, and then sailed to the market in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to sell his catch. After his business was complete, he would sail back home, arriving late in the afternoon.
John was well known by his neighbors on nearby islands. None of the islands in the Isle of Shoals were heavily populated…
