Grad School Roommate Remembers Slain New Jersey Therapist and Couple’s Boston Years

BOSTON – Jennifer Payne is still struggling to make sense of the death of Brooke Hanlon, her close friend and former roommate. “I hope she was not miserable toward the end of things,” Payne said of the New Jersey therapist who was killed earlier this summer.

Payne told INC News that she first met Hanlon in 2013, when the two were graduate students at Northeastern University. Their friendship deepened during those years, and they later shared an apartment in Boston for several years.

Hanlon, 35, had welcomed a baby last year. On June 6, she was found fatally stabbed inside her home in Chester, New Jersey.

Payne said she learned of Hanlon’s death weeks after investigators made the grim discovery, when she received a call from a news outlet.

Authorities have not publicly identified a suspect or person of interest as the homicide investigation continues.

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Speaking about the limited release of information in the case, Payne said, “The whole complexity of it all—and not knowing—keeps you on bated breath all the time.”

Payne’s painful loss of her friend brings back numerous memories, including their post-grad trip to Europe she tells INC News.

While Brooke and her husband, Conor, were dating, Payne said the group often hung out together and sometimes Conor’s family members would join. The Hanlon family is from Boston’s Brighton neighborhood.

Conor had a reserved nature about him when she knew him, Payne said.

“He just didn’t really have much personality. I didn’t think he was very motivated.”

Conor has yet to make a public statement about the death of his wife.

Conor Hanlon has not been charged with any crime or wrongdoing.

INC News has made numerous attempts to reach him but calls have not been returned.