DNA technology helped investigators identify suspect in death of woman in 1981

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Officials announced Thursday that they have identified the suspect over 40 years after the murder of a young woman in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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In a news release, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Portsmouth Police Chief Mark Newport announced that a cold case from September 1981 has been solved.

On the morning of Sept. 28, 1981, Laura Kempton’s body was found by her house by an officer who was trying to serve a court summons. She was last seen alive earlier that morning going into her apartment alone after spending time with a friend. The Attorney General’s Office said that an autopsy was done and found that Kempton died from a massive trauma to the left side of her face and it determined that she was killed during the early morning hours that day. Evidence that was collected from the scene the day Kempton, 23, was killed later revealed a man’s DNA profile.

Investigators spent more than 40 years pursuing leads and possible suspects, according to WFXT. They were unable to identify a suspect for all that time.

The Portsmouth Police Department along with the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Maine State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit, and Identifinders International were able to use forensic genetic genealogy technology to identify Ronney James Lee as the suspect in 2022, according to the news outlet. He was 21 years old at the time.

“It is my hope that this conclusion and announcement will be the long-awaited first step in providing what closure the criminal justice system can provide for Laura Kempton’s family and community,” Formella said in the news release. “The Portsmouth Police Department should be commended for its commitment and perseverance in seeking justice for Ms. Kempton and her family. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the members of our Office’s Cold Case Unit and all of our law enforcement partners that were involved in investigating and finally resolving this case.”

Even though there is enough evidence for criminal charges, Lee is deceased. The Attorney General’s Office said that the case has been closed and identified as “solved.”

If Lee was alive, he would have been faced with charges of first-degree murder knowingly causing the death of Kempton before, after, and while in the commission of, or while trying to commit an aggravated felonious sexual assault, according to WFXT.

Lee died in February 2005 at the age of 45 from an acute cocaine intoxication, Formella and Newport said at a news conference, according to the news outlet.