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"Snipper" makes the cut in Durham’s claim to fame By Beth Santos Newswriter (In the October 2003 issue of the Oyster River High School Mouth Of The River)
July 1995: Entrance into a woman’s apartment. Hides in her closet. December 1998: Peeps through windows in a UNH apartment complex. August 2001: Another "peeping tom" in a Dover apartment. August 20, 2003: Peeping Tom. September 11, 2003: Peeping Tom. June 25 through August 6, 2003: Seven incidents that made Durham, New Hampshire the spotlight for, da-da-da, a possible home for JACK THE SNIPPER!!!!!!!! The story has made headlines for months. Although UNH has fallen from the list of the nation’s top party schools, it made one last reach for the spotlight with its recent summer hit. And we’re not talking about "Pirates of the Caribbean". Jeffrey W. Gelinas, age 27, is now the prime suspect for an entrance into seven apartments and, in some, cutting the clothing off of sleeping women. Annie Anderson, a UNH student majoring in family studies who has since moved off campus, was left dazed. The snipper followed her to her apartment three times after nights at the bar. "The first time I had no idea...I had no way of explaining [what had happened]," she remembered. Anderson awoke with "my pajamas cut off and my sheets ripped in half," but thought it was a past boyfriend’s strange prank. She was awake when the snipper returned a second time, and she immediately reported the incident to the police, describing him as light-haired, lean and "definitely over six-foot-two." She awoke in the middle of the night on a third occurrence to find him "inappropriately touching" her. Gelinas was arrested on September 23, charged with two counts of loitering and prowling from the August and September peeping toms. He remains the prime suspect for the snipper case and will be tried on October 30th. "We are relieved the case may be near closure," commented Jennifer Murray, vice president for university communications, in the Durham Police Department’s press release. Since the incidents, UNH has aimed to increase security in all dorms and school apartments. According to an August article in the Foster’s Daily Democrat, exterior light bulbs and safety phones have been checked to ensure proper order. Philip Edelman, a Residental Assistant who works to make UNH students feel comfortable in their homes-away-from-home, explained that the university had a 24-hour lockdown at the beginning of the semester, and has restricted dorms to 24-hour key card access only. But the students still take the rules lightly. "The new steps are ludicrous," Edelman said. "People prop the doors and let strangers into the buildings." "It’s pretty easy to get in...my girlfriend has made it in about for or five times now," added UNH freshman Tyler Marcotte. But despite the lax attitudes of the students, UNH and the town of Durham are hard at work to keep the residents out of danger. "Durham is an extremely safe community," explained Town Administrator Todd Selig. "We have an outstanding police force, as well as an involved community that is very neighborhood-oriented...The citizens of Durham, New Hampshire care deeply about...the issues that impact their quality of life." Teachers and students at both Oyster River and the university have expressed feelings of confusion, disgust and worry that the snipper’s actions would escalate into something even more serious than it is already. "We know the extent to what he’s done," noted ORHS teacher Mary Kishbaugh. "He’s improving his skills, and it frightens me that it’ll turn into rape the next time around." Anderson is always searching for the snipper. "I can’t stop looking over my shoulder," she lamented. Hopefully, the arrest of Gelinas will put an end to the worry. Jack The Snipper has cut through to the headlines of Good Morning America. He’s been highlighted on Fox News, CNN, the Boston Globe and other papers and news programs across the nation. But the Mouth of the River has only the best news around. Or at least senior Dan Brady does. "Maybe there will be a ‘Jane The Snipper,’" Brady mused. Maybe. But Durham has plenty of time before it needs another hit of attention. |
