Crime

Three Exeter High School Teachers Resign After Misconduct Allegations

Brady Carlson — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:46:47 +0000

This is a time of year when educators and students are turning their minds toward graduation or summer plans.

In Exeter, though, many people are focusing on something more troubling: three teachers at Exeter High School have been accused of misconduct. All three have resigned, including one of them today.

Whitey Bulger: America’s Most Wanted Gangster

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:03:57 +0000

At the time of his capture in 2011, James “Whitey” Bulger was wanted for 19 murders, extortion and loan sharking committed during his reign over Boston’s Irish mob between the 1970s and 1995. During 16 years on the lam, Whitey became the subject of myth; characterized alternately as a “good bad guy”, and, in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film, The Departed, a venal sociopath.

Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen, a pair of Boston Globe journalists have drawn on 25 years of reporting to create a more complete and nuanced portrait of the restless boy from the Boston projects who became the most wanted fugitive of his generation. Tonight, Murphy and Cullen will be at the Red River Theatre for a screening of The Departed and at a pre-screening reception and talk.

Word Of Mouth 04.27.2013

Rebecca Lavoie — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:21:59 +0000

“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.”

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky from Crime and Punishment

In this fearless edition of Word of Mouth, we take new steps and utter new words about crime, punishment and everything in between.

Indictments Reveal Details About Alleged Murder Of UNH Student

Brady Carlson — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:53:14 +0000

Prosecutors say they now have a clearer picture of what happened to University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth Marriott, who has been missing and presumed dead last October.

Police arrested a man from Dover, Seth Mazzaglia, shortly after Marriott went missing, but it wasn’t until the last few days that a grand jury formally indicted Mazzaglia on a series of charges, including first and second degree murder.

D.N.A.'s Dark Side

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:08:57 +0000

In February, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Maryland v. King -- concerning the warrantless collection of DNA from people arrested for, but not convicted of a crime; Maryland is one of 28 states that collect DNA upon arrest. The case against the state questions whether DNA collected from people still presumed innocent violates the Fourth Amendment. The decision could have far-reaching implications in the real world, where DNA solves far fewer cases than on TV. Jason Silverstein is a PhD student in anthropology at Harvard and a contributor to The Nation. He looked into the racial implications of the case that Justice Samuel Alito called, “Perhaps the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades.”

Cloudland: Crime Lit Close to Home

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:43:22 +0000

Between 1978 and 1988, the murders of seven women in New Hampshire and Vermont were attributed to the “Connecticut River Valley Killer”. Investigations of several suspects, and one deathbed confession went cold, and the killer was never found. Novelist Joseph Olshan’s “Cloudland,” is a fictionalized crime thriller based on the case. We spoke to Joe Olshan last spring when the book was released, now, it’s out in paperback. He lived in the upper valley when the sixth and final victim was found, and he explained what, as an outsider, he saw happen to local residents.

After Second Trial, Munyenyezi Convicted Of Lying About Genocide To Enter US

Brady Carlson — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:44:05 +0000

Jurors have convicted a New Hampshire woman of lying about her involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to enter the United States and to gain citizenship.

Following today’s verdict, Beatrice Munyenyezi of Manchester was stripped of her citizenship and ordered held until her sentencing in June. Defense lawyers say they will appeal the verdict.

Is 'In Cold Blood' Tainted By Found Documents?

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:30:29 +0000

Nearly half a century ago, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood detailed the savage murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. That book is regarded as a literary landmark… the first so-called “nonfiction novel” that brought the true crime genre to the mainstream and cemented Capote’s celebrity status. It’s inspired three films, among them, “Capote,” in 2005, which earned a best actor Oscar for Philip Seymour Hoffman.

New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Looks For Future Funding

Brady Carlson — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:35:46 +0000

Officials with New Hampshire’s “cold case unit” say that the federal funding they’ve used to operate since 2009 is about to run out – and that without further funding, they won’t be able to investigate more than a hundred still-outstanding cases.

The Rise And Fall Of An NYC Extortion Ring

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:42:26 +0000

In July of 1965, New York City Detective James McDonnell was called to the Western Union Office at Grand Central. A man posing as a detective was there with a 14-year old runaway boy. The kid’s father suspected something fishy when asked to wire twice the amount necessary to fly the boy home and called the cops. McDonnell quickly figured that the sharply dressed man was impersonating a cop and called for back-up.

Lead: The Criminal Element

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:33:15 +0000

Boing Boing Science Editor Maggie Koerth-Baker has tracked trending scientific evidence that suggests leaded gasoline was the primary catalyst for national fluctuations violent crime, IQ, and ADHD.

Bah Humbug! Thieves Snag Lights From Boscawen Christmas Tree - Twice

Associated Press and Associated Press — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 01:15:24 +0000

Thieves have stolen the lights off a small New Hampshire town's Christmas tree twice in less than a week.

Marriott Confirmed Dead, Suspect Taken Into Custody

Jonathan Lynch — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 02:29:19 +0000

Law enforcement officials confirmed the death of 19-year-old Lizzi Marriott, the missing UNH student, and have charged a Dover man with her murder.

At a press conference outside of Dover's police station, Assistant Attorney General James Vara confirmed Lizzi Marriott’s death, but said that officials were still trying to locate her body.

Vara also announced that a suspect has been taken into custody. 29-year-old Seth Mazzaglia of Dover, New Hampshire, has been charged with second degree murder.

Bonnie And Clyde's Guns, Other Items Go On Auction

Todd Bookman — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:26:30 +0000

Nearly 80 years after the deaths of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde, a few, shall we say, "tools of their trade" are going up for auction. Among them are his Colt .45 and her .38 Special, which could each go for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer eventually caught up with Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934, a newsreel announcer declared "the inevitable end: retribution.

Crazy Love

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 23:17:24 +0000

Pop singer Rihanna made news recently when she confessed to Oprah Winfrey her sympathy for ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, who beat her up on the eve of the Grammy Awards in 2009. Rihanna’s tears for her abuser had many domestic violence advocates up in arms, and many of the rest of us scratching our heads. Here to give her take on the complex and often baffling emotional life of domestic abuse victims is Leslie Morgan Steiner.