They Call Him 'Jack The Snipper'

Police are hunting a nighttime intruder who has been dubbed "Jack The Snipper." Some call him "Edward Scissorhands."

On six occasions, the "Snipper" has slipped into the apartments of sleeping women near the University of New Hampshire campus and cut off or taken off their clothing.

None of the women have been attacked or injured. Nevertheless, the "Snipper's" nocturnal activities have women in the area on edge.

"It's creepy," UNH junior Lindsay Sliter told the Boston Globe. "I'm looking in my closets every time I walk by."

The "Snipper" first struck in late June. His latest foray came last week, when he entered the off-campus apartment of two women and removed their clothing.

UNH student Jenna Bardzik described the experience of one of the victims this way: "She woke up because she felt something, she heard
something, she was wearing a tank top and I guess the person had cut
the, you know, sleeves of the tank top off and when she woke up he ran
out."

"It's certainly safe and accurate for me that this certainly appears to be motivated by sex," said Durham Police Chief David Kurz.

All the burglaries happened at off-campus apartments that were left unlocked. It is not unusual to leave apartments unlocked in this small college community.

The "Snipper" has been described as a thin man 25 or younger, with black hair, police said.

Police are investigating whether some of the women may have been followed home from bars.

Local police are working with state and federal agencies and met with UNH sociology professors Murray Straus and David Finkelhor to discuss the crimes.

Straus said he and Finkelhor talked with investigators about the motivation and patterns of people who commit such crimes.

Straus said it is possible — but he believes unlikely — that the crimes will escalate.

"It could easily be rape; he's there with a weapon in his hands," he said. "But that isn't the way he gets his kicks. That's a possibility, but more likely this is his form of sexual satisfaction and this, and maybe related things also, are all that he will do."

University officials and police have urged students to lock their doors and be vigilant. When classes resume Sept. 2, dorms will be locked 24 hours a day, so that only students with proper identification will be allowed in. The new policy was enacted before the burglaries began, Scott Chesney, the university's director of residential life, told The Union Leader newspaper.