[at-l] Re: April Backpacker

[Snodrog5@aol.com (Snodrog5@aol.com)]

I asked for permission to post this last December. Happened in Pinkham Notch=
,=20
very near the AT. As far as I know, there's no new news about the crime.

Murdered hiker challenged
life and took risks=20
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI=20
Union Leader Staff
Slain Canadian psychologist Louise Chaput was a woman who challenged the=20
edges of life. Coming into her own at the start of the women=E2=80=99s liber=
ation=20
movement, Chaput embarked on a career, had her first child on her own, playe=
d=20
supermom, and constantly tested herself against nature through her hiking,=20
skiing and other outdoor ventures. She took risks. Sometimes too many. =E2=
=80=9C
Louise was a very strong, independent woman who had a mind of her own,=E2=
=80=9D=20
Nathalie Petrowski said yesterday of her friend, who was found stabbed to=20
death on Mount Washington Thanksgiving Day. =E2=80=9CShe would be very brave=
 and,=20
sometimes, I thought she would take too many risks, going traveling alone an=
d=20
all that,=E2=80=9D added Petrowski, a Montreal journalist who knew Chaput fo=
r nearly=20
30 years. The 52-year-old family and marital counselor set off alone from he=
r=20
Sherbrooke, Quebec, home Nov. 15 for an extended weekend of hiking in the=20
White Mountains. She was last seen alive when she arrived in New Hampshire=20
later that day. Chaput=E2=80=99s fully-clothed body was found near the start=
 of the=20
popular Glen Boulder Trail, just south of the Appalachian Mountain Club=E2=
=80=99s=20
Pinkham Notch lodge after a 2=C2=BD-day search. Her throat had been slashed,=
=20
Petrowski said. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s terrible. It=E2=80=99s so brutal, so v=
iolent,=E2=80=9D Petrowski=20
said. Intellectually curious with a strong interest in human nature, Chaput=20
also was an extremely physical woman who avidly pursued outdoor sports,=20
Petrowski said. Attractive with =E2=80=9Cnice blue eyes,=E2=80=9D Chaput loo=
ked at least 10=20
years younger than her age and remained =E2=80=9Ca little bit of a tom boy,=
=E2=80=9D she=20
said. =E2=80=9CWhen she would wear a dress, it was a big event for her,=E2=
=80=9D she added.=20
Petrowski, 47, met Chaput through a mutual friend, Joanne, when the three=20
women were in their 20s in Montreal. =E2=80=9CWe were all feminists in a way=
. We=20
wanted to work, to have our own things, to lead our own lives,=E2=80=9D Petr=
owski=20
said. The women remained close friends through the years. =E2=80=9CWe would=20=
have long=20
discussions on human nature . . . We knew each other=E2=80=99s stories, fami=
ly=20
stories, love stories,=E2=80=9D she said. Chaput wanted to have a child and=20=
had her=20
first daughter, who is now 19, on her own, she said. =E2=80=9CSometimes she=20=
found it=20
hard. She proved she could do it,=E2=80=9D she added. Eventually, she =E2=
=80=9Ctired of this=20
superwoman thing and she needed to be in a relationship,=E2=80=9D Petrowski=20=
said.=20
When Chaput=E2=80=99s daughter was about 5 years old, Chaput met her current=
=20
boyfriend, Pierre, and the two had been living together for more than a=20
decade. They had a second girl, who is now 10, together, she said. =E2=80=
=9CWe=E2=80=99ve=20
never been married, the three of us. We never thought it was really=20
necessary. Sometimes we would say we all should get married together and hav=
e=20
a big party,=E2=80=9D Petrowski said. Petrowski said rumors abound as to who=
 may have=20
wanted to harm Chaput, but said she knows nothing that substantiates them.=20
Chaput did a lot of family mediation work and sometimes would be called to=20
testify in certain cases, she said. She also consulted with inmates at a=20
local prison. Petrowski finds it improbable that a disgruntled patient would=
=20
follow Chaput to New Hampshire to harm her. =E2=80=9CIf somebody was really=20=
against=20
her, they could have done it in Sherbrooke...This person would have to know=20
she was going to Mount Washington,=E2=80=9D she explained, adding she doubts=
 Chaput=20
would broadcast to her patients her vacation plans. Chaput ran her counselin=
g=20
practice out of her home. She told her companion, Pierre, that she would=20
return Nov. 18 or Nov. 19. Chaput was not the type of woman who called her=20
boyfriend constantly and Pierre was not worried when he had not heard from=20
her, she said. But he became concerned Monday morning when she hadn=E2=80=
=99t=20
returned and her office was full of people, she said. Increasingly worried a=
s=20
the hours passed, Pierre called police at midnight. When her body was finall=
y=20
discovered a week ago, friends and family thought she died from exposure to=20
the elements, she said. =E2=80=9CFirst they told us she is dead and they did=
n=E2=80=99t give=20
us any details . . . Details kept coming like drops,=E2=80=9D she said. =E2=
=80=9CI hope they=20
find the person who did that. I=E2=80=99ve lost a friend. I would have liked=
 to have=20
spoken to her before and told her not to go hiking alone. I=E2=80=99m going=20=
to miss=20
her. She is going to be missed by a lot of people,=E2=80=9D Petrowski said.=20


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