The New Hampshire Supreme Court has denied an appeal by a man convicted in the shooting of an officiant and bride during her wedding.
Dale Holloway was convicted for the 2019 attack inside the New England Pentecostal Ministries in Pelham.
Holloway was believed to be targeting the groom, whose son was convicted of killing Holloway’s stepfather. A memorial for his stepfather was scheduled for after the wedding.
The bishop officiating the wedding was shot in the chest and the bride was shot in the arm. Both survived.
Holloway tried to fire a third time but his gun jammed, and he then hit the groom over the head with the gun. A wedding guest and a church employee subdued Holloway and several wedding guests held him down until police arrived.
Holloway represented himself during the trial, after assaulting his court-appointed attorney.
In 2024, he was sentenced to 40 years to life. Prosecutor Seth Dobieski said during the sentencing hearing that Holloway “turned a marriage into mayhem.”
In addition to attempted murder, Holloway was convicted of first and second degree assault, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In his appeal, he complained the trial court erred, in part, by failing to order a competency evaluation and excluding his testimony about his prior convictions.
In its order, the Supreme Court wrote it found no evidence to raise a doubt as to Holloway’s competency to stand trial, and that Holloway failed to demonstrate other trial court errors he alleged as the basis of his appeal.