This murder at a Bangor landmark shocked the city and remains Maine's oldest unsolved murder to this day.

Amanda McDonald
Amanda McDonald
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In 1965 Effie MacDonald was a chamber maid working at the Bangor House, a prominent hotel at the time. Not only was she strangled by her own nylon stockings but there were signs she was also sexually assaulted.

At the time these details were similar to killings by the active at the time, Boston Strangler. After investing the details it was determined this killing was not related to the strangler but could be a copycat.

On March 18th 1965 a Bangor House employee made a terrible discovery in a vacant third floor room. The body of 54-year-old Effie was found there with her clothes torn from her body and clear signs of foul play. The chambermaid was last seen around 12:30 the day of her murder and she had no known enemies.

Rumors say the killer was known but there was not enough evidence to go to trial. Some of the hotel employees reported a suspicious man who was in the building around the time of the murder but the murder remains unsolved.

The Bangor House was first opened in 1834 as the first Palace hotel, modeled after the Tremont House in Boston. It was host to dozens of famous guests including Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, Grant, McKinley and Harrison, as well as Bette Davis, Duke Ellington, Waldo Pierce, Jack Benny, and John Phillip Sousa. It served the Queen City as a prestigious place to stay for over 100 years.

The building was converted into senior housing in 1979 with 120 apartments, beauty shop, grocery store, and five story atrium with a large skylight. See the inside of a Bangor House apartment below.

 

 

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