John Rose and Susan Dessert

Questions re Rose and Dessert:

a) Where are these two today?

b) Was robbery the real motive in this crime? (because when you have a gun to rob someone you don't need them naked and what would have happened if the victim who was tied up had not managed to escape?)

c) Were these two convicted of this crime, because I couldn't find any more articles about them after their arraignment? 

d) Would it be worthwhile having Jane Boroski (1988 apparent victim of the "CT River Valley Killer") take a look at a photo of John Rose? Anyone have access to a photo?

2 HIKERS TERRORIZED BY ARMED COUPLE Telegram & Gazette [Worcester MA] 10 July 1989 

     Two women hiking in the White Mountains were terrorized by an armed couple yesterday - one of them chased and forced to disrobe at gunpoint, while the other struggled for an hour to free herself after being tied up, police said.
      State police arrested a man and woman in connection with the kidnapping. The man turned himself in at the Plymouth Police Department shortly after 6 p.m., while the woman was arrested earlier.
      The two hikers, reported as being Boston-area residents in their 30s, told police they were being followed by a man and woman as they hiked on the Smarts Brook Trail in Thornton.
      State Police Lt. David Lennon said the man pulled a gun and one of the hikers ran off.
      As the gunman's companion grabbed the other hiker and tied her up, the gunman chased the first hiker, catching her and forcing her to take her clothes off at gunpoint, Lennon said.
      The man then ordered the woman to run and fired a shot, he said. The woman was not hurt and ran to Route 49, where she was picked up by a motorist.
      Meanwhile, her companion struggled for an hour and freed herself from the ropes and also made her way to the road. Police, acting on a description she provided, arrested the woman they believe helped in the kidnapping.
      Heavily armed state troopers, fish and game officers, and police officers from a half dozen local departments fanned out yesterday afternoon, stopping cars and searching the forest's popular trail network in the Sandwich, Waterville, Thornton and Holderness areas.
      Police did not release the identities of the hikers or the suspects.

 

 

TWO ARRAIGNED IN HIKER KIDNAPS: Boston Globe 11 July 1989

     Two persons were arraigned yesterday on kidnapping charges stemming from the alleged abduction of two hikers in Waterville Valley, N.H., on Sunday, officials said.

     Bail of $200,000 was set in Plymouth District Court yesterday for John H. Rose, 36, of Jackson, N.H. He was charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of robbery, and two counts of criminal threatening.

     Susan Dessert, 32, of Conway, N.H., was charged with robbery and kidnapping. Her bail was set at $100,000. The two were taken to the Grafton County Jail in Haverhill pending a preliminary hearing on Sept. 15.

     Plymouth District Court Clerk Philip Tapply said Rose and Dessert had been living in the woods for 20 days.

     Kevin Mays of the Waterville Valley Police Department said Rose pulled a gun on the hikers, who began to run until Rose "grabbed one by the hair and forced her to the ground."

     Rose "then told his female companion to tie her up and take her into the woods until he returned," Mays said, reading from a prepared statement.

     As Dessert grabbed the woman and tied her up, Rose chased the other hiker, caught her and forced her to take her clothes off at gunpoint, Mays said.

After threatening several times to shoot her, Rose ordered the woman to run and fired a shot. The woman was not hurt and ran to Route 49, where she was picked up by a motorist, Mays said.

Meanwhile, her companion struggled for about two hours and freed herself from the ropes and also made her way to the road. Police, acting on a description she provided, arrested Dessert at about 1 p.m. in the woods near where the abduction had taken place.

     Both victims were from Massachusetts and approximately 35 years of age, according to State Trooper David Lennon.

     Rose surrendered Plymouth police at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.