Sign-In
Cart
Murder in Salem, Massachusetts: The Death of Frances Cochran
Paperback
Series: True Crime
Regional: New EnglandTrue Crime
Publisher Price: $24.99
ISBN13: 9781467171298
Publisher: History Press
Published: Jun 2 2026
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.68
Height: 0.46 Width: 6.09 Depth: 8.95
Language: English
Without reservation, she opened the door. Without hesitation, she hopped into the car, adjusting the skirt of her summer-weight navy blue suit to keep it unwrinkled as she sat down.
And just like that, 19-year-old Frances Cochran jumped into the void.
On July 17, 1941, in Lynn, Massachusetts, attractive nineteen-year-old Frances Cochran stepped off a commuter bus and into a mysterious black automobile. Three days later, police discovered her mutilated body in a Salem lovers' lane.
Her murder made national headlines on the eve of World War II. Investigators checked twelve thousand cars and interviewed almost two thousand witnesses. They scrutinized a Peeping Tom men's club. Despite leads that spanned the continent, decades passed and the killer was never caught. Like a poisonous vine, the death of Frances Cochran is tangled with other unsolved murders, including the 1947 Los Angeles Black Dahlia case.
As local author Rob Fitzgibbon reveals, it is also a story shrouded in the Salem Factor, the odd and inexplicable coincidences that occur in an area notorious for witchcraft and hauntings.
Also in
Regional: New England
Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA
Wedge, Dave
Hardcover
Two Ships: Jamestown 1619, Plymouth 1620, and the Struggle for the Soul of America
Reynolds, David S.
Hardcover
Don't Talk about Joe Mac: The Life, Wars, and Secret History of the Man Behind the Winter Hill Gang
Toledo, Springs
Hardcover
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness
Swidey, Neil
Paperback
Spooky New England: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue
Tougias, Michael J.
Sherman, Casey
Paperback
War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
Martin, James Kirby
Lender, Mark Edward
Hardcover
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears)
Hongoltz-Hetling, Matthew
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Paperback
Spooky Massachusetts: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
It Happened in Vermont: Stories of Events and People that Shaped Green Mountain State History
Bushnell, Mark
Paperback
Witches of New England: Stories about the Accused, the Trials, and the Fear That Swept the Region
Fowler, Natalie
Freeburg, Jessica
Paperback
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paperback
The Last Good Heist: The Inside Story of The Biggest Single Payday in the Criminal History of the Northeast
Worcester, Wayne
Richard, Randall
White, Tim
Paperback
Maine's Place in History: Joshua Chamberlain's 1876 Address at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
Chamberlain, Joshua
Hardcover
Going Up the Country: When the Hippies, Dreamers, Freaks, and Radicals Moved to Vermont
Daley, Yvonne
Paperback
The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier
Woodard, Colin
Paperback
Real Life, Real Funny: The Way Maine Humor Should Be
Potholm, Chris P.
Bailey, Dennis
Emery, David
Paperback
New England Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Hills and Forests
Warburton, Andrew
Paperback
The Captain, The Missionary, and the Bell: The Wreck of the Steamship Atlantic
Larsson, Eric
Paperback
Abolitionists of the Northeast: Black Leaders in the Antislavery Movement
MacDonald, Gail Braccidiferro
Paperback
Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide To Unusual, Historic, and Otherwise Notable Cemeteries
Rogak, Lisa
Paperback
Wicked Strange: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities, and Urban Legends from New England
Belanger, Jeff
Paperback
Connecticut 169 Club: Your Passport & Guide to Exploring Connecticut: New 5th Edition
Podskoch, Martin
Hardcover
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter: The Remarkable True Story Of American Heroine Ida Lewis
Skomal, Lenore
Paperback
Abandoned Prayers: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets
Olsen, Gregg
Paperback
Abolitionists of the Northeast: Black Leaders in the Antislavery Movement
MacDonald, Gail Braccidiferro
Hardcover
Jordans of the Pond: A History of the Family from the Jordan Pond House on Mount Desert Island, Maine
Reeverts, James Daryl
Paperback
New Hampshire Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff
Jones, Eric
Paperback
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution
Young, Alfred F.
Young, Alfred
Hardcover
Vermont Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History, Memories & Legacy of the CCC
Podskoch, Martin
Paperback
Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England
Whiting, Gloria McCahon
Hardcover
The Gritty Berkshires: A People's History from the Hoosac Tunnel to Mass MoCA
Seider, Maynard
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Hardcover
Walter Beinecke and the Reimagining of Nantucket: How Preservation, Conservation, and Redevelopment Transformed the Gray Lady
Warner, John D., Jr.
Hardcover
The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony
Gragg, Rod
Paperback
Countdown 1960: The Behind-The-Scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America's Politics Forever
Wallace, Chris
Paperback
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry That Built America's First Subway
Most, Doug
Paperback
The Hub of the Gay Universe: An LGBTQ History of Boston, Provincetown, and Beyond
López, Russ
Paperback
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack and the Fight for Survival in Early America
Swanson, James L.
Paperback
Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution
Wren, Christopher S.
Paperback
Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England
Hubka, Thomas C.
Paperback
Connecticut Cryptids: A Field Guide to the Weird and Wonderful Creatures of the Nutmeg State
Scalisi, Patrick
Paperback
The Autobiography of Leverett Saltonstall: Massachusetts Governor, U.S. Senator, and Yankee Icon
Saltonstall, Leverett
Paperback
Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
More Than Freedom: Fighting for Black Citizenship in a White Republic, 1829-1889
Kantrowitz, Stephen
Paperback
Maine's Remarkable Women: Daughters, Wives, Sisters, and Mothers Who Shaped History
Kennedy, Kate
Paperback
Poet in High Street Park: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem: Prose & Poetry for Modern Salem
Scrimgeour, J. D.
Paperback
Death on Mount Washington: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness on the Northeast's Highest Peak
Minetor, Randi
Paperback
The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket
Schneider, Paul
Paperback
When the Island Had Fish: The Remarkable Story of a Maine Fishing Community
Smith, Janna Malamud
Hardcover
Becoming Teddy Roosevelt: How a Maine Guide Inspired America's 26th President
Vietze, Andrew
Paperback
Indians in Eden: Wabanakis and Rusticators on Maine's Mt. Desert Island
McBride, Bunny
Prins, Harald
Paperback
Robert Love's Warnings: Searching for Strangers in Colonial Boston
Salinger, Sharon V.
Dayton, Cornelia H.
Paperback
Siege at the State House: The 1879 Coup That Nearly Plunged Maine Into Civil War
Smith, Mac
Paperback
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
Hardesty, Jared Ross
Paperback
Myths and Mysteries of New Hampshire: True Stories Of The Unsolved And Unexplained
Mayo, Matthew P.
Paperback
Boon Island: A True Story Of Mutiny, Shipwreck, And Cannibalism
Erickson, Stephen A.
Vietze, Andrew
Paperback
It Happened in New Hampshire: Stories of Events and People That Shaped Granite State History
Rogers, Stillman
Paperback
Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England: From Flips & Rattle-Skulls to Switchel & Spruce Beer
Hirsch, Corin
Paperback
No Right to an Honest Living (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
Jones, Jacqueline
Paperback
The Wreck of the Portland: A Doomed Ship, a Violent Storm, and New England's Worst Maritime Disaster
Conway, J. North
Paperback
A Dear-Bought Victory: The Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, 1775-1776
Greenwalt, Phillip S.
Davis, Daniel T.
Paperback
God, War, and Providence: The Epic Struggle of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians Against the Puritans of New England
Warren, James A.
Paperback