Woman Thought She Met Mr. Right. 3 Weeks Later, He Was Accused of Her Brutal Murder

Elizabeth Lochtefeld appeared to be living her best life. After founding and later selling her shares in a New York consulting firm, she moved to Nantucket, Massachusetts, to enjoy a quieter life. At 44, she was single, dating, and seemed to have finally met the right man.

Just weeks later, on October 25, 2004, she was found murdered in her home.

In early October, Lochtefeld proudly introduced her new boyfriend, 37-year-old former financial executive Thomas Toolan III, to friends in Nantucket. Photographer Gene Mahon, who met Toolan that evening, said he “could see the love in her eyes” and was happy for her. Another friend, art gallery owner Sara Boyce, recalled that Lochtefeld was “giddy with excitement,” describing Toolan as “great, smart, and preppy.”

But within weeks, Lochtefeld began confiding in friends that she wanted to slow things down. Toolan was already “talking rings,” she said, and she felt uneasy. Though some acquaintances saw him as polite and mild-mannered, a former girlfriend described him as “a Jekyll and Hyde” who could change moods instantly.

By October 22, Lochtefeld decided to end the relationship. She traveled from Nantucket to New York City to break things off. Her brother Peter later said that Toolan became violent and tried to stop her from leaving his apartment. Lochtefeld managed to escape at 4 a.m. on October 23 while he was asleep and went straight to the police to ask about a restraining order.

“She said she had broken up with him and wanted no part of him,” Nantucket police chief William Pittman said at the time. The officer she spoke with noted that Lochtefeld seemed frightened but conflicted, saying Toolan “could be sweet” even though “he creeped her out.”

Lochtefeld spent the next two days staying with her brother, worried that Toolan might come after her. Meanwhile, Toolan tried to fly to Nantucket but was detained when airport security found a kitchen knife in his bag. He was released and caught another flight the following day. Upon landing, he went to a boating supply store and bought a 5-inch diving knife.

By then, Lochtefeld had returned to her own home and was gathering Toolan’s belongings to mail them back to him. Before heading home, she told her landlord, Barbara Kotalac, that she planned to pick up her nephew from school at 1 p.m. That afternoon, Kotalac saw a man—believed to be Toolan—approaching Lochtefeld’s house. When she later noticed that Lochtefeld’s car was still in the driveway, she called Peter Lochtefeld, sensing something was wrong.

Police soon discovered Elizabeth’s body inside her home. There were signs of a struggle, blood on the walls, and she had been stabbed nearly two dozen times. “I didn’t hear a thing,” Kotalac said later. “That’s what bothers me the most.”

Hours after the killing, police arrested Toolan for drunk driving in Rhode Island. He was soon charged with Lochtefeld’s murder—the first homicide on Nantucket in more than 20 years.

Friends remembered Lochtefeld as warm, successful, and full of life. “She was looking forward to her whole life,” Mahon said. “She was waiting for it to come to her.”

In 2007, Toolan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Four years later, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the conviction due to issues in jury selection, and a retrial was ordered. In 2013, a second jury again found Toolan guilty. His final appeal in 2022 was rejected, and the state’s highest court upheld his conviction, ensuring that Lochtefeld’s killer would remain behind bars.