This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
The murder of 25-year-old Marisol Fuentes-Huaracha in Berlin will be the first case reviewed by the state’s new domestic violence fatality review committee, Attorney General John Formella confirmed Tuesday.
Fuentes-Huaracha was fatally shot by her estranged husband, Michael Jr. Gleason, on July 6— a case that has drawn widespread criticism for how the legal system handled it.
Many consider her death preventable — she sought a protection-from-abuse order, he was arrested for assaulting her, and she filed for divorce, but he was let out on $5,000 bail and still had access to the shotgun he used in the murder-suicide.
“Each of these tragedies has a devastating impact—not only on the families and friends of the victims, but on the broader community,” Formella said in a statement. “The work of this committee is designed to ensure that we are learning from these cases, strengthening our systems, and doing everything we can to prevent future fatalities.”
The state first established the domestic violence fatality review committee by executive order in 1999, bringing together experts from across New Hampshire every two years to review homicides connected to domestic violence.
This year, Senate Bill 140 gave the committee permanent status in law, ensuring its work will continue.
The committee’s role is to identify gaps in system responses and services, as well as key points for intervention, that—if addressed—could strengthen both the systemic and community response to domestic violence in New Hampshire.
Between 2009 and 2023, more than half of all homicide cases handled by the Attorney General’s Office were related to domestic violence. (This data excludes cases of negligent homicide and homicides where police were justified in using deadly force.)
Between 2009 and 2023, more than half of all homicide cases handled by the Attorney General’s Office were related to domestic violence. This data excludes cases of negligent homicide and homicides where police were justified in using deadly force.
In 2024, nine of the 10 homicides under the Attorney General’s jurisdiction in the state were domestic violence-related, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Justice.
The new 17-member committee brings together experts from different fields, including law enforcement, legal services, and health care.
One member of the committee is Janet Carroll, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) director from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
She is a registered nurse specially trained to care for sexual assault survivors—helping reduce both physical and emotional trauma while ensuring evidence is collected and preserved for the legal process.
Joi Smith, the program director at the coalition, said that having the perspective of a health care worker at the table is invaluable, explaining that when sexual assault and domestic violence occur together, it signals an extremely high-risk situation where the survivor could face a potentially fatal outcome.
“The hospital, that’s often a first point of contact for a lot of folks that are in a highly vulnerable situation,” Smith said. “It’s really imperative that every member of that team, including all of the other multidisciplinary teams, the crisis centers, the law enforcement, paramedics, that everyone is aware of how dangerous these situations are.”
Other members include Formella; Jennie Duval, chief medical examiner; Amanda Grady Sexton from the coalition; Katja Fox, director of the Division for Behavioral Health at the Department of Health and Human Services; Mike Donati from the Division for Children, Youth and Families; as well as members from other domestic violence advocacy organizations and representatives from law enforcement and attorneys.
“With this membership in place, New Hampshire is taking an important step forward in strengthening our response to domestic violence,” Formella said.
The committee’s first meeting is expected to take place this month or in October, and it will issue a public report every two years, offering recommendations without providing specific details.
Formella said the committee will “operate under the strict confidentiality” necessary to preserve the integrity of the case review process.
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.
