Beth Lochtefeld was smart and hardworking. By the time she reached her 40s, she had good friends, she had travelled the world, and she was professionally successful. All that was missing was a partner with whom to share her life.
Enter Tom Toolan III. At age 37, Manhattanite Tom was well-educated, handsome, and appeared successful in his own right. But he had secrets. His life was spiraling out of control and he would try to pull Beth into that spiral with him.
By the time Beth broke up with Tom Toolan, it was too late for her to escape him unscathed. He went into an alcohol-enhanced rage and held her against her will in his apartment overnight before she was able to escape while he slept.
Join us at the quiet end for No Safe Harbor. Beth fled to Nantucket and stayed at her brother’s house on the island, hiding from Tom Toolan. Once she felt like the coast was clear, she took refuge in her own Nantucket rental. But once she entered, she would never be seen alive again.
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Beth Lochtefeld 2003
Sources
boston.cbslocal.com, 2011
Cape Cod Times Archives, 2004-2021
New York Times Archives 2004-2000
Safe Harbor: A Murder on Nantucket by Brian McDonald