Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories

Murder of Brenda Gerow

CHELMSFORD -- An Arizona sheriff's department is crediting local police for helping officials identify a woman whose body was found in Pima County, Ariz., in 1981, and investigators are now asking for local residents' help with solving that woman's slaying.

The request for help comes just days after the Pima County Sheriff's Office identified a woman whose body was found in 1981 as Brenda Gerow, of Nashua, N.H.

Deputy Tracy Suitt, a spokesman for the Pima County Sheriff, said a former Tyngsboro man and convicted killer, 61-year-old John Kalhauser, is a person of interest in Gerow's killing. Police told KVOA TV in Tucson that Gerow's body had obvious signs of trauma.

This image was created by investigators in Arizona after they exhumed Brenda Gerow's then-unidentified body and used her skull to create this reconstructed image of her face. They later realized this image appeared to be the same person as the woman whose photograph was found among Kalhauser's possessions. courtesy photo

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Gerow was about 20 when she left Nashua and moved to Arizona with Kalhauser in 1980, when Kalhauser was already a convicted killer.

In 1971, Kalhauser was charged with the shooting death of Paul Chapman, 52, of Nashua. He was convicted of manslaughter in that case and sentenced to 7 years in prison. He was paroled after serving about a year of that sentence.

Kalhauser is serving a 20-year sentence in Arizona after being convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the death of his ex-wife.

The body of Kalhauser's ex-wife, Diane van Reeth, has never been found, according to reports in the Tucson Citizen. She disappeared in August 1995 as she was getting a divorce from Kalhauser.

Kalhauser, who had been living in Arizona under an alias, was arrested about a month later when police learned his real identity and found out he was wanted in Massachusetts for allegedly shooting a man on the Lowell Connector in 1979.

Kalhauser had been charged with attempted murder in connection with that Lowell shooting, but fled the area with Gerow after posting bail. He was convicted of charges connected to that case in 1996, and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

He was then returned to Arizona, where he was convicted of his ex-wife's killing in 1999.

He is serving his Massachusetts sentence concurrently with his 20-year sentence in Arizona.

Among Kalhauser's possessions when he was arrested in 1995 was a photograph of Gerow. That photograph remained in police custody until 2012, when Gerow's then-unidentified body was exhumed so that police could use her skull to reconstruct an image of her face.

Investigators in Arizona eventually realized the reconstructed facial image appeared to match the woman in the photograph that had been in Kalhauser's possession.

Still unsure who the woman in the photograph was, investigators in Arizona contacted Tyngsboro and Chelmsford police regarding the photograph, since Kalhauser had ties this area.

"They had reason to believe she may have been from this general area, so we look at the photo along with Tyngsboro police and it looked like it may have been taken at an old campground in Tyngsboro," Chelmsford Police Chief James Spinney said Wednesday night. "We thought there was enough there to at least post it on social media in the hope it would jog someone's memory."

In December, Tyngsboro and Chelmsford police both posted the photograph on social media. According to Suitt, the posts did jog some memories, and those memories eventually led his department to identify Gerow.

"That helped a lot, because due to that people started saying she looked familiar, and this is who it may be and things of that nature," Suitt said. "We were able to find who her family was, did some DNA comparisons, and here we are."

Speaking by telephone through an interpreter for people who are hearing impaired, William Gerow said Wednesday he was overwhelmed by the news of his daughter's death and doesn't know why she was killed.

"We think she ran off, we don't know," he said. "My daughter was just gone and we have no idea why. I don't know what happened. Thirty-three years and still no reason why. Where did she go?"

William Gerow said Arizona detectives visited him about three months ago.

"I really feel blown over by this news," he said.

Suitt said investigators are hoping to learn even more from Greater Lowell residents.

He said investigators would like to speak with anyone who was familiar with Gerow and Kalhauser back in the late 70s and early 80s.

"We're hoping to speak to anyone with any information about the two of them," Suitt said. "That information could help us really cement this case."

Suitt said anyone who has information on Kalhauser and Gerow, or what their relationship was, should either contact local police, or call Pima County Detective Mark O'Dell at 520-351-6428.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Timeline of Brenda Gerow and John Kalhauser

* December 1971: John Kalhauser, 17, of Tyngsboro, is convicted of manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of 52-year-old Ronald Chapman, of Nashua. Kalhauser is sentenced to 7 years in prison, but ends up being paroled after about a year.

* August 1979: Kalhauser is indicted for armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the May 1979 shooting of Michael Renk on the Lowell Connector. Renk survived despite being shot in the chin, shoulder and back.

* 1980: Kalhauser is released on $1,200 bail and moves to Arizona with Brenda Gerow, of Nashua.

* April 8, 1981: the body of an unidentified woman is found in Tuscon, Ariz., with obvious signs of trauma. The death is considered a homicide.

* Aug. 10, 1995: Kalhauser's ex-wife disappears from Tuscon, Ariz.

* September 1995: Kalhauser, who had been living in Tuscon under an alias, is identified by police in Arizona, and arrested on an outstanding warrant in connection with his 1979 attempted murder indictment in Lowell. Police find a photograph of an unidentified woman among his possessions.

* November 1996: Kalhauser is convicted of armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the shooting in Lowell. He is sentenced to 26 years in prison.

* May 1999: Kalhauser is convicted of second-degree murder in Arizona in connection with his ex-wife's disappearance. He is sentenced to 20 years in prison.

* 2012: Investigators in Arizona exhume the then-unidentified body of the woman found in 1981, and use her skull to reconstruct her face. Police realize that woman appears to be the same person in the photograph found on Kalhauser in 1995.

* December 2014: Tyngsboro and Chelmsford post the photograph found on Kalhauser, and the reconstructed image of the unidentified woman's face on social media, generating tips from local residents.

* Sept. 28, 2015: The Pima County Sheriff's Office announces it has identified the woman whose body was found in 1981 as Brenda Gerow, of Nashua. They also announce that Kalhauser is a person of interest in Gerow's death.

Source: The Sun's archives, The Associated Press, The Tucson Citizen, court documents, and the Pima County Sheriff's Office