This is the first in a two-part series on Alice Hawkes. Click here for Part Two.

Alice Hawkes, the “bonus” child

Alice Hawkes was born into a loving family on May 26th, 1964. She was the youngest in a family of 5, and her mother, Frances, was 44 years old when she had Alice. Her father, James, was a pharmaceutical salesman.

Alice grew up in Bangor in a home on Cedar Street in what’s considered part of the Whitney Park historic district, a short distance from the Bangor waterfront and abutted by the famous Stephen King Mansion. Cedar street is home to some of Bangor’s gorgeous early 20th century Victorian homes, its tree lined sidewalks flanking the crackling street pavement.

Summers were spent on Pushaw Lake, at the Hawkes family camp.

The 5 Hawkes siblings were divided in age by nearly two decades. Her oldest sister, Rosemary, was 19 years her senior. There were two groups of siblings: the three oldest, and the younger two. Alice’s brother Mike was close in age - just three years her senior.

Alice wanted to fit in with her peer group, and may have had some insecurities about her mother being older than her friend’s parents. Much later in life, in her college years, she reflected on it in some writing:

Obviously, my parents were old at my birth. Mom was 44, and my dad was 46. During childhood, I never really cared that my parents were older than those of my playmates. As a matter of fact, I remember boasting about it quite often on the playground. As I grew into my teens, however, I realized what an enormous strain I was putting on them. I’ve been thinking how unlucky they were to have me at such a late age. While their friends suffered the empty nest stage in their late 40’s, mom and dad are just now beginning it!

I distinctly remember one night when I was 15, sharing a cup of tea with my mother, I half-jokingly relayed those feelings to her. She was shocked. She looked me in the eyes and said, “if there is one thing that I am most grateful for, it is that God allowed me to bring five beautiful children into this world. If He let me be your mother when I was 44, it can only mean that He plans on letting me live ‘til I’m 80, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to die before I watch you grow into a wonderful, responsible adult.”

Alice meets her lifelong best friend, Andree

Alice grew up Roman Catholic and attended St. Mary’s Parochial School, a Catholic elementary school run by nuns. One day in third grade, as the children shuffled into their seats, a girl in a yellow polka dot dress stood out in a sea of carefully pressed plaid jumpers. She was new, and her name was Andree. She and Alice became instant friends, and they didn’t have to go far to hang out: Andree also lived on Cedar Street.

If you were Alice’s friend, you were her forever friend, woven into the fabric of every part of her life. Alice and Andree were soon inseparable, spending all their free time together.

Alice was a free-spirit: she was creative with a dry-sense of humor. She was warm and empathetic, and well liked by everyone. Alice loved helping people, so it’s no surprise her favorite summer job was that of a counselor for a kid’s summer camp on Lake Pushaw....

Most students at St. Mary’s move on to attend John Bapst, the private catholic high school, after 8th grade. Alice was no different. She was set to attend her freshman year in the fall of 1978 with classes and schedule ready to go.... but there was one problem: her best friend wouldn’t be with her. Andree’s family couldn’t afford the tuition.

Alice couldn’t imagine her high school career without Andree, so after some negotiation with her parents, she opted out of John Bapst and joined Andree at Bangor High School. Once again, the two friends were back together.

Alice heads to USM in Gorham

When high school ended, Alice and Andree split up for the first time. Both of them went to the University of Maine, but Andree went to Farmington and Alice went to Southern Maine in Gorham, about an hour and a half away. Though they couldn’t see one another, they still kept in touch, through what was then long-distance phone calls and tons of letters back and forth.

A taste of home while at school

Being on campus, over 2 hours away from her home on Cedar Street, gave Alice a taste of freedom she hadn’t yet experienced... She was living in the dorms at Hastings Hall meeting new people and creating forever friends in this new chapter of her life.

Alice maintained regular written correspondence with her family and friends, and they treasured her personal notes. Her inner voice was clear and intimate, and Alice was funny. Rosemary shared some of Alice’s writing with me for this episode. In preparation for her interview, she read through some of her letters, and said it was like spending the day with her baby sister.

Fraternity parties, and her “drinking buddy” Debbie

Alice wasn’t sure what she wanted to do—maybe she’d be a teacher, or even a writer. Alice was an honors student and overall, she did well in school. She always had. But she was a free spirit, and at USM her priorities began to shift as she developed new friendships.

At one fraternity party that she would never forget, she met Debbie Dunn, who would go on to become one her best lifelong friends.

Alice and Debbie were initiated as little sisters to the Delta Chi Fraternity, and their wider circle included many members... and while they didn’t share a dorm together at USM, they were always seen together. They even got their own nickname: Velcro!

Debbie shared a photo of her Alice on the floor of the dorm making decorations and Christmas cards. The most endearing part of this photo isn’t just that Alice and Debbie are beaming while working on their crafts, it’s that both of their ankles are overlapping, living up to their nickname.

Live music, partying in Portland, Disney World!

Alice and Debbie would go out Friday and Saturday night in Portland with their close-knit group, listening to live music and bar hopping. Alice was a huge Mick Jagger fan!

To help pay for the partying, Alice had picked up a part time job at the Maine Savings Bank in South Portland, a job she really enjoyed.

One thing she was sure about was living off-campus with Debbie. Debbie was a year older and in her final months of college, and in the summer of 1985, Debbie and Alice moved into an apartment on Stephen’s Ave in Portland.

Alice had always wanted to go to Disney World, and right before Debbie’s graduation, Alice concocted a plan that would take them 1,300 miles south on I-95 for a trip that Debbie would never forget.

The decision to leave USM

In photos it seemed like Alice was living her best life, but deep down, she was conflicted about school and her future. Her major was still undecided, unlike some of her friends who knew what they wanted from life and were graduating with a degree to achieve it. Her money was running out and her grades were suffering, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and a bit lost. Underneath her bright smile, Alice was struggling.

Sometime after the Florida trip, with a promotion for a better position at Maine Savings Bank on the table, Alice made the decision to take the job and leave USM for good.

An old guy friend returns to Maine

Alice didn’t date in high school. She had a close circle of friends for companionship (a lot of whom were guys), but she focused on her studies. At USM, again, she didn’t have a long-term boyfriend, but there was a part of her who wanted a different kind of companion as she watched her friends partner up. She would write a silly, mushy quip in a letter to a friend about romance, and then, in true Alice fashion, make a joke about the fact she wrote it in the first place.

There was one guy who’d been a recipient of many letters from Alice. His name was Stephen Bouchard. She met Steve in high school while working at the summer camp on Lake Pushaw.

In a letter from 1983, Alice joked that out of the guy friends she had at home, Steve was the only one who wrote her back. “I guess that’s how I find out who my real friends are,” she wrote.

In the letters from 1983 and ‘84 she affectionately called him “sweets,” underlining the name. Though the tone of her letters are “just friends”, it seems that Alice was hinting that she was open to something more.

In 1985, Steve returned to Maine and reconnected with Alice. By the late fall, he was a regular at Alice’s and Debbie’s apartment.

Alice and Stephen get an apartment together

After less than a year of living with Debbie, Alice had a problem. Debbie’s boyfriend was abusive, and she needed to get away. She needed the help and support of her parents and decided to move back home. Without her best friend close by, Alice had a void in her life and an empty room to fill. She suddenly had to decide what to do regarding her housing situation.

Alice’s relationship with Stephen had progressed a lot, and, though she was conflicted, she wrote a letter to discuss a possible new living arrangement with her family:

Big sister,

Stephen thinks he has found the perfect solution. Yep, you guessed it… move in with him. And to tell you the honest truth, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea! The whole idea of cheaper seems wonderful, but then the old Catholic upbringing starts playing with my conscience.

I’ve even gone so far as to write down all the pro’s and con’s. The pro’s won.

And I know what you’re thinking… That little mind of yours is zooming back to the conversation that we had this summer in which you said you’d never live with a man, and I said “Me, either!”

Who was that wonderful person that said it’s a woman’s right to change her mind?

-Baby sister

And with that, Alice and Stephen moved into an apartment house at 8 Spring Street in Westbrook, just west of Portland, where they shared a 1 bedroom apartment and two parking spots. They were just off the main drag in Westbrook, a short walk to stores and restaurants.

Excelling at her job

In early 1987, after having lived in her new apartment with Stephen for about a year, Alice was offered a promotion at her job, but it meant changing branch locations.

She was working as a teller at the Mill Creek Shopping Center in the heart of South Portland, and the new location was at the Maine Mall, which was both closer to her and gave her more responsibility and autonomy.

She happily accepted the new job and was given her own desk with her own business cards and a nameplate. Her coworkers said that she was on the fast-track at Maine Savings Bank.

A trip home to Bangor, mom’s 67th birthday

It was September of 1987, and though her birthday wasn’t until Sunday, Frances Hawkes, who was turning 67, welcomed her youngest daughter and her boyfriend on Friday night – they were up for the weekend. Alice and Steve drove the 2 hours from Portland to Bangor in their new blue Ford Mustang after getting out of work. Alice stayed with her mom in her modest 1-bedroom apartment in Bangor where she lived right next to Rosemary. Stephen stayed in little Hudson, Maine, 30 minutes north of Bangor, with his mother and stepfather.

On Saturday (a day early!) Alice gave her mother her birthday present, she couldn’t wait – it was decorative soup tureen – and she loved it. That night Rosemary hosted them and other extended family for a celebration.

On Sunday, Rosemary, Frances, and Alice went to Lake Pushaw, drove the familiar gravel road, and stayed in the camp shared by the family since their childhood. It was just the three of them and the dog.

On Sunday night, Rosemary watched the Blue Mustang pull out of the camp driveway and head back to Bangor, where Alice stayed one more night with their mother.

On Monday, Stephen and Alice went out to dinner with Frances and then headed back to Portland to get back to their jobs.

This was the last time Frances and Rosemary would see Alice alive.

Sunday October 4th, 1987…

Stephen had been locked out of his apartment since the previous afternoon and, despite his repeated calls, was unable to reach Alice. He couldn’t understand why she wasn’t answering the door. Her car was parked in its normal spot. Had she left town with someone and not told him? Thoughts of her male colleague from the bank floated through his mind.

It was Sunday morning and he had spent the night with some friends. He tried the home phone one last time, and when there was no answer, he finally called their landlord, Bob Margiloff, and asked for his help in gaining access. He explained that the deadbolt was locked and that his key was locked inside the apartment.

Bob lived about 8 minutes away from their apartment, and he had an extra deadbolt key for their unit at his home. He said he would leave it out on the porch for Stephen, and that Stephen was welcome to pick it up at his convenience. Stephen picked up the key and tried the lock, but the key didn’t work. Stephen called Bob back to let him know, and Bob said hang tight – he would be over in a few minutes.

Once Bob arrived, he went to his basement office, got his backup deadbolt key, and gave it to Stephen, who quickly went upstairs and unlocked their door.

Bob was walking back to his car when Stephen yelled after him that something terrible had happened and to come quick.

They hurried up the stairs, and as soon as he crossed the threshold, Bob could see some discoloration on the dark brown carpet in the living room. When he got closer, he realized it was a large stain of blood and there was a trail leading to the bathroom. He followed the trail and found Alice lying on the bathroom floor between the sink and the bathtub in the fetal position in a pool of her own blood…. Alice Ann Hawkes was dead.

As Bob was processing what he was seeing, a question floated up in the back of his mind. Who could have done such a thing, extinguishing the life of such a vibrant young woman?

Take action

If you know anything about the murder of Alice Hawkes, I urge you to leave a tip to the Maine State Police Unsolved Homicide Unit or call (207) 624-7076.

Links

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Sources For This Episode

Newspaper Articles

Various articles, from the American Journal, Bangor Daily News, Portland Evening Express, Portland Press Herald.

Articles written by Chance Viles, Frank Sleeper, Gail Geraghty, Leslie Bridgers, Marianne Shafer, Martha Englert, Raymond Foote, Renee Ordway, Steve Campbell, and Tom Berg.

Full listing here.

Online written sources

All writing at AliceHawkes.com (primarily written by Mark Swett)

All writing at Facebook page, “Who Killed Alice Hawkes” (primarily written by Mark Swett)

Interviews

Debbie Dunn, Rosemary Driggers, and Mark Swett

Photo Sources

Photos primarily from Mark Swett and alicehawkes.com.

Credits

Created, researched, written, told, and edited by Kristen Seavey

Research, writing, photo editing support by Byron Willis