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You can connect with me at MurderSheTold.com or follow on Instagram at MurderSheToldPodcast. Rosemary said to her baby sister, Alice, that she wanted to be buried in a closed casket as they considered coffins for their father, who had just passed away.
James E. Hawks, who was just 68 years old and still working part-time, had just suffered a major heart attack and died in his sleep. His wife, their mother, Frances, had woken up that morning to find her husband cold to the touch. Their dog, Stash, was pacing the floor at his bedside.
Alice, just days prior, had been up to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family. It was the fall of 1986, and everyone was there except for her brother Mike, who was sick with the flu. Just three days later, Sunday, November 30th, their happy and healthy father was gone forever. There was no plan in place, and the family was figuring out what to do as they went.
A mass was held that week at their Catholic church, St. Mary's, and his body was interred at the family burial plot at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. As James' body was being lowered into the ground, the Hawks' children were together, drawn tightly through tragedy. Little did they know that in one year's time, they would be gathered again at this same place, burying one of their siblings.
My name is Rosemary Hawkes-Driggers, and I was Alice's big sister, her definition. She always referred to herself as baby sister, and I was the big sister. You know, her return address would be baby sister. Back in the day when people wrote letters and sent cards. Alice Hawkes was born into a loving family on May 26, 1964.
She was the youngest in a family of five, and her mother, Frances, was 44 years old when she had Alice. Her father, James, was a pharmaceutical salesman. A friend later said, they were the kind of family I would have loved to have been born into. My mom and dad were very loving and very supportive.
And that didn't change at all with Mike and Alice. As they grew older, they were the same parents. We're very fortunate to have our mom and dad
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 Hawks' family camp.
She was joyful. If I had one word I wanted to describe her, it would be joyful. The five Hawks' 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 quite close in age, just three years older.
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 40s, 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 has plans to let me live till 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 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 to 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 Andre. She and Alice became instant friends, and they didn't have to go far to hang out. Andre 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 Andre 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 kids' camp on Lake Pushaw. But, like most teens, before she found a summer job she loved, she had to go through a few she didn't love.
Oh, she had some funny jobs. She worked at a... I wasn't living here then, I don't believe, but there was a store in a mall and it had a little dinette or restaurant type place. I can't even remember the name of it. I'm sorry. But she worked there like one day. She told my mom that there was just too much grease for her to deal with. Too much grease. Then she...
sold Kirby vacuum cleaners. You call people and try to sell Kirby vacuum cleaners. I think this was at, we're talking high school now. I know she sold one because she sold it to my aunt. But I think the job she enjoyed the most for summer was working at the camp at Pushaw. It was called Camp Saison. Every now and then, Alice's otherwise secure and happy childhood would be punctuated by a health scare.
She did suffer with migraine headaches, and that was a challenge. And that started at kind of a young age because I remember one time being home in the summer for vacation, and she had to go to the emergency room, and my ex-husband had to carry her. She was so debilitated, she couldn't even walk at that point. And I know that she had a few as an adult, but I think they didn't happen often.
That was challenging for her for a time. Fortunately, these were infrequent enough that it didn't upset her otherwise normal school life. Most students at St. Mary's move on to attend John Bapst, the private Catholic high school after eighth 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 there with her. Andre's family couldn't afford the tuition. Alice couldn't imagine her high school career without Andre. So after some negotiation with her parents, she opted out of John Bapst and joined Andre at Bangor High School.
Once again, the two friends were back together. Even though she was the baby, she was very independent and she showed good judgment. And so my parents, you know, trusted her and understood that, you know, she's old enough to make that decision. So she went to the public high school, Bangor High School.
But high school doesn't last forever. Suddenly, your childhood is done, and you're thrust into the real world as a young adult. Expectations are higher, and there's less room for mistakes. And despite how many times Friends Forever gets inscribed in your yearbook, things change as the years go on. People who were once close friends sometimes grow into strangers because of distance, time, and life changes.
Dear Andre, I know you will always be around when I need someone to help me over the rough spots that are ahead of me. I hope you know that I will always be there for you too. So take care, old buddy. Best wishes for a happy, successful, wonderful life. You really deserve one. Love, Alice
When high school ended, Andre and Alice split up for the first time. Both of them went to the University of Maine, but Andre 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.
She was family-oriented. Of course, you know, it does change when you go off to college. So it's not like when you see them on a day-to-day basis. But she still, I mean, as I said, I have letters that she wrote me during those times. And we were separated by distance, but still felt connected. Being on campus, over two 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 in her life.
With all these changes, Alice still kept some reminders of home. She bought a 12-inch TV to keep up with General Hospital, her favorite daily soap, and a radio to listen to WBLM, Portland's local rock station, while writing papers. She kept favorite snacks, like salt and vinegar chips or barbecue chips on hand, just in case of an emergency.
Alice always kept an eye out for care packages from family, usually containing homemade baked treats, something that she loved to receive, even if it did contribute to the freshman 15.
The year that we were working on my apartment, she had just completed her freshman year and she was quite heavy. You know how they say freshmen gain weight? And she had gained quite a bit of weight. Typically, she wasn't heavy. She tended to be on the thinner side. So I can remember we were watching TV and I think it was the Miss Universe pageant or something. And she said, I hate these women. They're so skinny. Let's go get an ice cream. So that's what we did. We went and got an ice cream.
Mark Sweat wrote on the Alice Hawks website, Alice loved reading and listening to music, but she didn't care for some of the books that were assigned for the classroom. She could definitely do without the Greek classics. Boring. And as for her music appreciation class, she saved her harshest words for Chopin and Beethoven. Not only did she have to purchase some of their recordings, she actually had to analyze them.
She preferred Mick Jagger and the Eagles. Hands down. Alice maintained regular written correspondence with her family and friends, and they treasured her personal notes. Her inner voice is 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.
She did better in high school. I mean, she did very well in high school. And I mean, I even have papers because Alice, she did say things and she did have her scrapbook and obviously would save the good stuff. But she would get comments on different projects that she did or different writings that she did because she did enjoy writing. I think USM, she got a little distracted.
I think it was a growing time for her and a learning time for her being away from home. And I think she would have done it over again. I mean, she had no regrets during that time. She made wonderful friendships. People that were still friends with her after she left school, she didn't lose contact with them. So I think she enjoyed the fun part, the party part, just like so many do.
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.
I was already a student at USM. I had been there a year, and it was in late January of 1983. And we met because we both went to a fraternity party. And we left the fraternity party as casual friends, and it was a friendship that started...
just as drinking buddies that we thought would be a lifelong thing. This is Debbie. She's one of Alice's close friends from USM, a new forever friend.
I spent the day looking at letters and things that she and I wrote back and forth to each other. And she actually uses that phrase in one of the things that she writes to me. A friendship that started as casual drinking buddies has become a lifelong support system. And she would always use quotes.
And in that writing to me, she found a quote from Alfred Tennyson, and it says, So many worlds, so much to do, so little done, such things to be. She was thoughtful and caring and loving.
She was absolutely beautiful. 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 dorm together at USM, they were always seen together. They even had their own nickname. We had a friend who went on to use Velcro as part of the work he did, and he made...
keychains for each of us. And one was fuzzy and the other one was the other part of the Velcro because people called us Velcro. If you saw one of us on campus, you saw the other one. Like, we were together all the time. And we just adopted the name of Velcro. And we really were. We were fastened together. And those summers separated. We would write letters back and forth. I mean, because you couldn't... You didn't call. It was long distance. You know, you just...
You didn't call, you wrote letters. And we did. Alice loved holidays, especially Christmas. Not only were the holidays the perfect excuse to send mail to loved ones, but they were also the perfect excuse to get creative and decorate. If you celebrated a holiday with Alice, you celebrated for the entire month. And even if you didn't, she found a way to make everyone feel included.
She was absolutely obsessed with Christmas. We celebrated for three weeks even before going on Christmas break. So it was a very big deal. And for each different holiday, we would make for the front of people's doors. Like for Valentine's Day, we would do big hearts with the two people's names that lived in that room. And we would do them for the whole floor. St. Patrick's Day, we'd make the front of each other's doors shamrocks or whatever.
Debbie shared a photo of her and 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. I asked Debbie what a typical night of hanging out looked like.
If it were close to Christmas, we'd be making Christmas cards. We were poor as all heck, so we would make our Christmas cards or we would try to find other people to be with, party with. We'd talk and listen to music. There wasn't a whole lot of studying. We were both successful in school, but we really did just spend a lot of time having fun.
In 1985, that lingering question of what Alice wanted to do with her life began to bug her. Should she transfer to another school? Was she in the right major? Is school even the best fit for her right now? Alice changed her major from education to undecided.
Alice was working part-time at the main savings bank in South Portland, a job she really enjoyed. With the summer approaching, she was offered a full-time position as a bank teller. But should she take the job? 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 Stevens Ave in Portland.
Oh my gosh, Allison and I, our landlord, oh, it's one of our favorite stories. I know she's told that a hundred times and so have I, but we get this rent, nicest guy. He had apartments all over Portland.
First month, we're like, ugh, didn't pay rent. Second month, we're like, oh my God, we haven't heard from him. Let's just see what happens. So we didn't pay rent again. Third month, he comes by for some reason, like a light wasn't working. I don't know. Nicest guy again. He's so careful. He's just really accommodating. He leaves the next morning. So at least three or four months, we do not pay rent. And
We just think, he's had so many rents, he's just forgotten about us. We get up in the morning and there's a note slipped under the door. And we're like, what is this? And we pick it up and we lost it laughing. And it said, do you girls plan on paying rent? Oh my God, we laughed for... And then...
Each of us told the story. I would hear her telling it to somebody, and then I would tell it. And we did it for years, one of our most favorite stories. Each of us ended up either going to our family or taking out a personal loan or somehow, and we paid him all this back rent, and he was absolutely fine with it. Alice and Debbie were part of a tight-knit group, and most of them still lived in Portland after graduation. They would spend the weekends together painting the town red.
Alice liked adventure and mini road trips, creating spontaneous memories. And she would never pass up an opportunity for live music. We went into Portland a lot, Friday night and Saturday night. The places aren't even there anymore. Houshangs and the Dry Dock. Oh gosh, yeah, $3 doobies for sure. Right on the top of the tables, they were covered in paper.
Always finding live music. Would dance for hours. There was usually live bands. Oh, there was an artist that we absolutely would follow. What was his name? Chinook. Bill Chinook. Dime Store Hero is a song of his. But she was...
An absolute Mick Jagger fan. She has a Rolling Stone t-shirt that you could almost see through it. She wore it so much. Michael Jackson, like Thriller is popular and whoever sang Burning Down the House. Talking Heads was another one.
Yeah, but that was like the kind of stuff we would listen to to rev up to start like pregame start a party or something. Alice had always wanted to go to Disney World. And right before Debbie's graduation, she concocted a plan that would take them 1,300 miles south on I-95 for a trip that Debbie will never forget. She was a...
crazy for Mickey Mouse fan and Walt Disney and just research and knowing him. And she just dreamed of going to Disney world. And she hadn't as a kid and I had a couple of times. And so we said that spring of 85, I was going to be graduating, um,
I was on a schedule of the students of elementary school schedule because I was student teaching at the time. So my vacation was different than her vacation. And she said, if you're going to Disney, I'm skipping class and I'm going to Disney because we're going to do this. And she ditched class for a week, followed the elementary schedule with me. We went to Florida and I'm so sad.
So glad that she went because it was something she wished to do and she never would have if she just hadn't said, I'm going, I'm just going to do this. And we did and stood in front of flamingos with one leg up and just enjoyed every moment.
Got lost, so, so, so lost driving a rented car together. And we came back and there's a picture of us the night that we got back and we met up with friends to tell them everything. And that picture is at my bedside. I'm so glad she went. You can see photos from their trip together on MurderSheTold.com linked in the show notes.
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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 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.
When Alice needed comfort, she turned to her friends, writing letters, and finding the perfect quote to inspire her. February 1985
Don't ever try to understand everything. Some things will just never make sense. Don't be afraid to try to make things better. You might be surprised at the results. Don't ever feel threatened by the future. Take life one day at a time. Don't ever feel guilty about the past. What's done is done. Learn from any mistakes you might have made. Lane Parsons
Dear Rosemary, Hey big sister, how's life treating you? Life with me is fine. I can't believe how incredibly mushy I've become lately. Seriously though, I saw this poem and somehow it made me feel better just re-reading it a couple times. I thought it might do the same for you.
This growing up stuff and getting out on your own just isn't what it's cracked up to be. I think you, me, and Mike have to have another talk on the front porch. I've got new input for the conversation. One thing is for sure, love isn't all it's cracked up to be either. Whoever said it is better to love and have lost than to never have loved at all was on cheap drugs and probably frustrated or something.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for the valentine. At least Jason and you love me. And I love you both. Alice. P.S. I'm not really as depressed as this letter makes me sound. I'm just getting sentimental in my old age. 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 to leave USM for good. I think it had a lot to do with that last semester. Her grades were not what she had wanted them to be. A lot of us were leaving the tight, tight, tight friendships that she had made. I think it was just a want to just get started and not be in school anymore. It had a lot to do with disappointment with her grades that last semester.
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 that she wrote it in the first place. There was one guy who had been the 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. They met in high school, but they did not date. Stephen's girlfriend at the time worked at Camp Saigon, and that's how she met Stephen.
And they had a bathhouse. They called it the bathhouse at the camp. And for part of one summer, Alice and this girl lived in the bathhouse. It was the feeling of independence. And that is when she met Stephen. And although I knew the girl and met her a number of times, I never met Stephen during that time.
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 calls 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. He went to the university for a while, and then he moved to Alaska. And because I have Alice's scrapbook, there are postcards from Stephen.
So when she was going to USM, they were in touch. March 12, 1984. Steve. Hey, sweets. Just got your letter today and I was so happy to have something in my mailbox. The Garfield cartoon was too funny. But I will have you know that I am not totally out of shape. I do my fair share of sit-ups when I'm in the mood.
So you liked the Valentine's Day card, huh? I'm glad. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get a St. Patrick's Day one too. By the way, you do still celebrate St. Paddy's Day, don't you? Just because your name is Bouchard doesn't exclude you, does it? Can it be O. Bouchard for one day so you can drink a green beer? You might be interested in this. My hair is getting long. It's a lot like the last time you saw me.
By the way, are you ever coming back to this barren, boring state called Maine? Just wondering if you'd ever get to see me again. I've still got it. Love, Alice
Sometime in 1985, Steve returned to Maine and reconnected with Alice. By the late fall, he was a regular at Alice and Debbie's apartment. When he came into the picture, she was living with her friend then, and he caused a bit of conflict just by being around, I guess.
I didn't like him and she knew I didn't like him. Because she and I like to spend time together. We often didn't spend time together with either of the people that we were dating. So it was either Alice and I or she was with Steve. And I wasn't a fan of the way that he treated her. And we were both strong women. So...
If something would happen to me with a guy I was dating at the time, she would say, I don't understand why you're with him. And then if something would happen with her with Steve, I would say, I don't understand why you're with him. So, but we respected each other. We know we had our private lives, but at the same time, she and I were absolute best together and supported each other. Truly, it was just a really very young in relationships for sure.
Their relationship blossomed quickly. By the time New Year's hit, it had turned into something more serious. January 1st, 1986. Steve. No, this isn't a thank you note for my Christmas gift. I love them. You know that. This is an I love you note. Do you realize that we now have the opportunity to spend all of 1986 together? Do you think we'll make it?
Sometimes when you purposely make me mad, I don't think we'll last another minute. And sometimes when I'm lying next to you at night, I can't imagine ever being without you. I know I've been kinda strange lately and I've been crying a lot more than usual.
It's just, there's so many things in my life right now that just aren't the way I want them. I want a new apartment, a car, to go back to school and try to save some money. And I just can't find a way to do them all.
I guess I just wanted you to know how happy you make me. You're the best part of my life right now. And yeah, sure, I could survive 1986 without you, but what I really want to do is spend 1986 with you, all the way. I love you, Steve. Always know that I'm here for you. Allie.
After less than a year of living with Debbie, Alice hit a problem. Debbie's boyfriend was abusive, and she needed to get away from Portland. 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 Steve had progressed a lot, and though she was conflicted, she wrote a letter to her family to discuss a possible new living arrangement.
I don't seem to like anything anymore, but Steve thinks he has found the 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 pros and cons. The pros won.
And I know what you're thinking. That little mind of yours is zooming back to a conversation we had in the summer in which you said you would never live with a man. And I said, me either, quote, unquote.
Who was that wonderful person that said it's a woman's right to change her mind? Actually, I don't think I could comfortably move in with Steve unless we had a definite plan for the future, which would be evident by the one carat rock on my left hand. Or maybe I'd just settle for a half a carat.
Here's what she wrote on the back flap. Here's what she wrote on the back flap. Beware, exclamation point. Inside there is a highly confusing letter which seems to make no earthly sense. Naturally, it's from me. Rosemary and her mother Frances met Alice for lunch in Portland to discuss her plans and their opinions.
So I was not a fan. I just wasn't, you know, that's my prerogative, not to be a fan of Alice's boyfriend. So I wasn't real happy about it. So then we went to Portland, my mom and I, and had lunch with Alice and then talked about it more. I actually said the same thing my dad did. I said, because remember, this is 1987. And although that's a lifestyle a lot of people enjoy today, it wasn't so much in 1987.
And I said, why don't you get married? And my dad said, when mom told him, why don't they get married? You know, my brothers even stayed home. They were working and everything, but they lived with my mom and dad until they got married. You know, so this was a big step, a very big step. And my mom said one other thing to my dad. She said, I don't want you to treat Alice any differently.
So I will say, you know, the boyfriend didn't come to my dad and say, you know, I really care about Alice. I really care about your daughter. I will take good care of her. You know, that didn't happen. I think my dad was kind of looking for that.
Just like when you became engaged in those days, you know, this promise that you're going to take care of this person and love this person the rest of your life. And, you know, we didn't know him, really. We didn't know him. But Alice knew she needed to make this decision for herself, even if it went against societal norms.
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 one-bedroom apartment and two parking spots. They were just off the main drag in Westbrook, a short walk to stores and restaurants.
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 main 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 co-workers said that she was on the fast track at Maine Savings Bank. Even though they didn't see each other often, Alice was excited to share the news with her best friend Debbie, so they went out to lunch to catch up.
We met at a restaurant and we talked about she was really liking the guy from the bank that, you know, she was accused to have a relationship with. She was really liking him. And we talked just like her job, my job, catch up kind of conversation. Didn't know it was going to be the last time I saw her.
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. Alice and Steve drove the two hours from Portland to Bangor in their new blue Ford Mustang after getting out of work. Alice stayed with her mom in her modest one-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 a 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. We went out to the lake, and it was a beautiful September day. Mom's dog, Stash, was with us, and we were teasing Alice because every time he wanted to go out, she would get up and take him out. She was the youngest one. We took advantage of her that day, but...
Because we were remembering dad a lot. It was still not a year since we had lost him. Just the three of us and the dog, and we had a nice visit at our very favorite place, camp. 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 Francis and then headed back to Portland to get back to their jobs.
This was the last time Francis and Rosemary would see Alice alive. 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 in his mind.
It was the morning of Sunday, October 4th, 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 Margoloff, and asked him 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 eight 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. He called Bob back to let him know, and Bob said he'd be there 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 the door.
Bob was walking to his car when Stephen yelled after him that something terrible had happened and to come back. 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.
Next week on Murder, She Told. We were doomed from the very beginning. And it took family members different time frames to suddenly realize this is the person that killed Al. Beyond a reasonable doubt, we felt it as a family. But it didn't come all at once.
My mom was waiting for the phone to ring to say there had been an arrest. My mom was waiting for the phone to ring. Join me as I continue the conversation about Alice Hawks, diving into the investigation and what happened on 8 Spring Street.
If you or anyone you know has any information about the murder of Alice Hawks, I urge you to call the Maine State Major Crimes Unit at 207-624-7076 or leave a tip at the link in the show notes. I want to thank you so much for listening. I'm so grateful that you chose to tune in and I couldn't be here without you. Thank you.
My sources for this episode include the Bangor Daily News, the Portland Press-Herald, American Journal, and alicehawks.com and its research by Mark Sweat. Special thanks to Rosemary Hawks-Driggers and Debbie Dunn for sharing their memories with me, and to Mark Sweat for his support and assistance. All links for sources and images for this episode can be found on MurderSheTold.com, linked in the show notes.
Special thanks to Byron Willis for his research and writing support. If you loved this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or on social media and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It's one of the best ways to support an indie podcast. If you're a friend or a family member of The Victim, you're more than welcome to reach out to me,
at hello at MurderSheTold.com. If you have a story that needs to be told or would like to suggest one, I would love to hear from you. My only hope is that I've honored your stories and keeping the names of your family and friends alive. I'm Kristen Seavey, and this is Murder She Told. Thank you for listening.
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