Exeter, New Hampshire is the kind of small New England town where residents worry about unlocked doors, not murder. That illusion cracked on a winter Sunday in February, when 88-year-old Janet Rischeill Kelsen was found dead inside her Front Street apartment with injuries that police initially believed came from a fall. The truth, investigators now say, was far more violent.
Just before 6 p.m. on February 9, a relative called 911 to report a medical emergency at the home where Janet lived with her son and daughter-in-law. Paramedics arrived to find the elderly woman suffering from severe blunt-force head trauma. For a brief moment, authorities treated her death as a tragic accident — the kind of thing that can happen quietly, without witnesses, behind closed doors.
But as detectives reviewed the evidence, the theory of an accidental fall unraveled. The injuries didn’t match the story.
Nine months later, investigators made their move. On November 25, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of 55-year-old Danielle Kelsen, Janet’s daughter-in-law. She was taken into custody in Southwest Harbor, Maine, and charged with second-degree murder for what prosecutors described as an act carried out with “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Authorities allege that Danielle inflicted the blunt-force trauma that killed the elderly woman. They have not disclosed what led to the attack or what may have unfolded inside the apartment the day Janet died. But prosecutors made one thing clear: they believe no one else in the home was involved.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told WMUR that Danielle is “the only individual we believe was responsible,” pushing back against speculation about other family members.
The murder charge was not the only one filed. Danielle also faces counts of wiretapping and eavesdropping for allegedly using an electronic device to intercept oral communications with Janet, a detail that adds a chilling layer to the already grim case.
The town of Exeter — known more for antiques shops and craft stores than violent crime — has been rattled. Residents told Seacoastonline they had never imagined something so brutal happening to a woman described as quiet, elderly, and defenseless.
Danielle is scheduled for an extradition hearing on December 10. After returning to New Hampshire, she is expected to be arraigned in the 10th Circuit Court. It remains unclear whether she has secured an attorney.
