Jeffrey Trudeau Jr. was only three and a half months old and lived with his one-year-old sister and their twenty-four-year-old mother Christine Turcotte in an apartment on Hampshire Circle in Dover, New Hampshire. The boy’s father, Jeffrey Trudeau Sr., lived elsewhere; Christine had recently filed a restraining order against him for domestic violence, and he was prohibited from contacting her or their children.
On the morning of December 7th, 2000, Christine brought baby Jeffrey to the Seymour Osman Community Center, claiming she had found him in his crib, unresponsive and stiff. An ambulance arrived and transported the infant to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Authorities undertook a meticulous investigation after the medical examiner ruled that the baby’s cause of death was due to sustained abuse over a long period of time. After nine months, the death was officially classed as a homicide.
Though Jeffrey’s parents were the first obvious suspects, detectives never named them as such, stating only that the inquiry was open and all possibilities were being considered. At the time the baby was found in his crib, there were at least seven other people in the apartment.
It seemed significant, though, that only a week before Jeffrey’s death, his pediatrician had noted a wound on the infant’s flesh that appeared to be a cigarette burn. And only the day prior, Jeffrey’s mother had brought him to the emergency room; the baby had a high fever and was vomiting blood. It was also noted that the restraining order against Jeffrey’s father had been granted only three days before the infant died.
The couple’s daughter was removed from Christine’s custody shortly after Jeffrey’s death and placed into foster care.
Police have never specified whether Christine Turcotte or Jeffrey Trudeau Sr. remain suspects in the case, though they confirmed that the location of both parties is known. The case in inactive but remains open as of this writing in April 2025.
Crime Immemorial 