Murder in Rockport, Massachusetts: Terror in a Small Town

Cold Case Clues

On May 21, 1932, Arthur Oker, a mild-mannered Finnish tailor, was brutally murdered in his shop in the small seaside town of Rockport, Massachusetts.

While this unsolved crime terrified local residents, their fears increased after another horrifying murder, that of Swedish immigrant and fellow church-goer Augusta Johnson in her home on Halloween night, 1933. Following the crimes, authorities searched every house and building in Rockport and some 2,500 households were interviewed. A reward was posted, a mystic volunteered her services, and local children wearing badges provided by a breakfast cereal company joined in the search. However, the crimes went unsolved.

Local authors Robert Fitzgibbon and Wayne Soini reveal long lost details about the crime, the investigation and a surprise suspect from long-lost and never-before-published State Police files.