Killer Of Concord Woman 50 Years Ago Was Her Next-Door Neighbor, Cold Case Unit Says

CONCORD, NH — After a little more than 50 years, investigators in the state’s cold case unit believe they know who killed one of the longest unsolved murders in the city of Concord.

Judy Lord, 22, was strangled, raped, and suffocated inside her apartment at the Concord Gardens apartment complex in the city’s Heights neighborhood during the early morning hours of May 20, 1975. The prime suspect was always Ernest Theodore Gable, 24, who lived in next door and made unwanted sexual advances toward her previously, including attempting to break into her apartment, according to several sources at the time and later. Lord was attending a volleyball game on the day in question and had a friend check her apartment before returning home.

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For decades, Gable was always the prime suspect, although, during the early investigation of the killing, there was another man who lived in the complex who was a suspect, as was Lord’s husband, Gregory S. Lord Sr. A veteran and longtime resident of New Hampshire, passed away in 2019. But Gable was initially and partially ruled out, R. Christopher Knowles, a senior assistant attorney general and the chief of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit, said, due to “flawed science” issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation connected to hair samples taken at the apartment from Lord’s dead body and Gable.

“That's one of the reasons that this case went cold, ultimately,” he said. “And when I say that it went cold, it had no new investigative leads for a certain period as defined by our protocol. That period is five years. That makes it a cold case. So just because the case is old doesn't mean it's a cold case; it all depends on what you're, where you're getting at.”

Witness reported hearing screaming, sex noises — like moans and noise consistent with sexual actions, he said, strangling and thumping noises. The noise from inside the apartment was easy to hear, Knowles said, due to the thin walls. As an example, Gable’s wife at the time, he said, knew Lord had taken a shower before going to bed, according to testimony she gave at the time. She provided statements to investigators over the years, he said.

Five of Gable’s fingerprints were found on a window.

Scratches were also found on Lord’s face. Investigators noted Gable had long, sharp nails, whereas Gregory Lord Sr.’s fingernails were short due to biting them.

Dried semen was also found at the scene, on towels that were wet due to Lord getting out of the shower on the night in question. There was also hair from a Black person.

Knowles said many men in the neighborhood, including half a dozen Black men, willingly gave their hair samples to show they were not suspects in the case. The only one who refused was Gable. Several civil cases in New Hampshire led to him being forced to release a hair sample to investigators, not long after the murder, which the FBI was unable to match to him. Despite probable cause to arrest him, the hair was found to be “microscopically different” than Gables.

The semen, however, did match Gable’s DNA. The DNA profile was one in 6.5 million, Knowles said.

Knowles said Gable also kidnapped the couple’s two daughters from their mother, and she did not see them for 14 years. He later changed his name to Ernest Stanberry and slowly moved around the country. Several other crimes, in Joliet, Illinois, were discovered when investigators put together a “pattern of life, so to speak,” on Gable, “before and after Judy Lord’s murder … other interactions he had with other women… charged and not charged,” like burglaries, using both names.

Knowles said the case was critical at the time because it marked the point in Concord’s history when residents began locking their windows for safety reasons. It was a moment where new forensic technologies were being used, even if they were not always completely accurate.

“This impacted an entire community for decades, decades of people that didn't know what happened to her, and we’re finally able to say what happened to her,” Knowles.

Gable’s arrest history, according to investigators, spanned nearly 17 years.

Gable was arrested in Fall River, Massachusetts, in January 1969 for breaking and entering at night to commit a larceny. Two years later, he was charged with breaking and entering-larceny in New Bedford, MA.

Along with the weapon possession charge in Concord, Gable was charged with false information-firearms in September 1974.

After relocating to Joliet, Illinois, Gable was arrested on a murder charge in October 1977. The charge, investigators said, was dismissed about a month later.

“Despite extensive efforts by cold case investigators,” a report stated, “no official reports or records could be located to explain the circumstances of this arrest or its dismissal.”

Gable was arrested in March 1978 on an armed robbery charge and was convicted and served two years of a five-year sentence. Between 1980 and 1984, his whereabouts were unknown.

Between March 1984 and August 1985, Gable was arrested on robbery, talking a vehicle without consent, burglary, theft of personal property, forgery, and two use-under the influence of controlled-subsequent charges.

Investigators also said he exhibited violent behavior with other women.

A former girlfriend accused him of wanting her “to act like he was raping (her). He wanted (her) to scream and kick and scratch.” Another ex said, during sex, he would put a pillow over her head and only stopped when she told him to. Gable was also accused of telling an associate he planned to kill another woman by putting a plastic bag over her head and strangling her — “a close parallel to the blue sauna suit found on Ms. Lord’s face.”

A witness during the investigation also stated Gable once said, while pointing to Lord, “(s)someday, I’m going to get me a piece of that white meat.” Investigators noted the comment showed clear motive to rape Lord, showed why she feared him, and contradicted any notion of a consensual relationship.

Gable was killed in February 1987 in Los Angeles, California, the victim of a stab wound during a robbery. He was 36.

At a press conference on Monday, officials thanked members of the Concord Police Department for their work on the case over many years. Two investigators, who were the only two living members of the investigatory team, were also in attendance.

Lord was the 11th of 14 children. Five of her family members were in attendance. Her son, Gregory Lord Jr., issued a statement. The family, in a statement, said the incident harmed them, especially so early in life. She was a kind person who loved her son. She would have been a great mother, had she lived, they said. Lord loved playing guitar and singing, they said. Gregory Lord Jr. said he did not know her but thought of her often. He also thanked Concord police for their work on the case. Gregory Lord Jr. said he hoped everyone would find closure.

Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood said the case never died, including with residents, who still speak about the murder, many decades later. Even in a closeknit city, he said, tragedy can strike. Today’s resolution provides clarity and truth to the people of Concord, Osgood said.

“Concord has never forgotten Judy,” he said to the family, “and we hope this can bring you peace.”

Osgood also commended Todd Flanagan of the cold case unit who brought the case to the AG’s Office when he left the department to work there. He also thanked Det. Wade Brown who had been working on the case since 2013. James Moran, Doug Wyman, and Roger Close, and many others, who worked on the case, were also thanked.

According to police logs in the Concord Monitor, Gable, 24 at the time, was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in October 1975. At the time, he was still living at Concord Gardens.

Gable was also found guilty in the superior court of possession of a firearm by a felon in April 1976. Gable, who was living in Penacook at the time, was sentenced to a year in jail with three months suspended. He was also given a one-year probation. Gable was held on $2,500 cash bail while he began the appeal process.

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