Notorious: Maine Crime in the Public Eye, 1690–1940

Suspect: Louis Wagner
Accusation: Murder
Location: Isle of Shoals, Maine and New Hampshire
Date: March 5, 1873
Victims: Anethe and Karen Christensen

In 1872, successful fisherman John Hontvet (1842-1904) of Smuttynose Island employed crewman Louis Wagner (1844-1875). Reportedly Wagner struggled with the workload, and after Hontvet’s family arrived from Norway, he let Wagner go. Wagner returned to the mainland and rented a room in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but quickly fell behind on rent. After seeing his former employer in town, he learned Hontvet had saved six hundred dollars to buy a new boat and would be delayed overnight in Portsmouth with his brother and brother-in-law. Wagner stole a small boat and set out to Smuttynose to steal the money.

Wagner entered the family cottage through the kitchen, where he surprised Hontvet’s sister-in-law Karen Christensen (1833-1873) who slept near the stove and bludgeoned her with a chair. Hontvet’s wife Maren (born 1835), sister-in-law Anethe Christensen (1847-1873), and the injured Karen hid in a bedroom while Wagner anxiously searched the house. When Anethe tried to escape through the window, Wagner followed her outside and struck her with the family’s ax. Meanwhile, Maren escaped with her dog and hid among the rocks.

Unable to locate Maren, Wagner strangled Karen, brought Anethe’s body inside, and ransacked the home. Before dawn, he returned to his Portsmouth boarding house with a mere fifteen dollars. He claimed the blood on his clothes were fish guts, cut his hair, shaved, bought new clothing, and left for Boston by train. Wagner hid at a Boston boarding house, but news of the murders spread via newspapers and the boarding house’s owner alerted police.

Authorities arrested Louis Wagner and tried him in Maine for the murders of Anethe and Karen Christensen. A jury convicted him based on eyewitness accounts, including Maren Hontvet.

Louis Wagner was hanged at Maine State Prison in Thomaston on June 25, 1875.