Murder in Danville - Fatal Stabbing

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I'm told that somebody was injured in some act of violence. They tried to airlift him/her via helicopter from the Danville Baptist Church parking lot, but that s/he could not be stabilized and so s/he was rushed to Parkland via ambulance. A whole crowd of people were watching.

Anybody else know anything?

(changed title 6/2 9:30 am)

[JC]

According to WMUR a call came in for an auto accident on Cobblers Ridge, turned out to be a stabbing, someone heard a woman screaming and called 911...... not sure how the auto accident came about??? but apparently a woman was stabbed in the abdomen and could not be stabilized enuf to be airlifted to Boston....she was brought to Derry Parkland..condition unknown...

This just shows how important our Police and Fire departments are, lets remember situations like this when we go to the polls.

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Police say man in custody in Danville stabbing

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent

DANVILLE – State Police say they have taken into custody a man they say is believed to be connected to the stabbing of a woman in Danville.

Police, some time before 7 p.m., stopped a gray Infiniti in the eastbound travel lane of Route 101 near Exit 9 in Exeter. A police dog was searching a wooded area along the highway.

Union Leader article

[Emmanuel Fardella]

Well said JC, I would second that!

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June 2, 2010
Man arrested in Danville stabbing

From Staff And Wire Reports

DANVILLE — An unidentified man is being held in the stabbing of a woman yesterday on Cobblers Ridge Road.

Authorities were tight-lipped last night as they spent hours investigating the late-afternoon stabbing. The woman, whose name was not released, was reported to have been taken to Parkland Medical Center in Derry.

The suspect was captured last night while traveling east on Route 101 in Exeter, about 15 miles from the crime scene. A state trooper and dog were seen searching a wooded area next to the highway.

Before the arrest, police had been looking for a man in a gray Infiniti amid reports he may have been heading to an area Walmart to purchase ammunition. Salem police Lt. Steve Malisos said his department was notified the suspect could be heading for the store on North Broadway but he never arrived.

The investigation involved both Danville and state police, including the Major Crime Unit based in Concord. State police would only say it was a serious assault case and that no details on the stabbing would be available for "awhile."

No one from the Danville Police Department was available for comment

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Danville stabbing is homicide

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
49 minutes ago

DANVILLE – A 25-year-old woman found at a residence on Cobbler's Ridge Road has died of stab wounds and a man is under arrest in connection with the killing, the Attorney General's Office said this morning.

Randi Huntley of 67B Cobbler's Ridge Road suffered multiple injuries, including stab wounds, after being attacked Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Police later arrested Jackson Mwangi, 28, on a first-degree murder charge.

Union Leader article

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Aunt: NH Woman Who Died Had Child With Suspect
DANVILLE, N.H. (AP) ― The aunt of a New Hampshire woman who was stabbed to death said Wednesday the victim had a 4-year-old son with the man charged with killing her.

AP News Article

[Thundergirl]

This is sad, a little boy will grow up without his mother. My condolences to the victim's family.
This was very close to the school where children that are part of the YMCA after-school program were playing outside (my child included). Desperate people do desperate things, but I have to assume that police knew the suspect was no longer in the area and therefore not a threat.

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Danville stabbing is homicide

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
30 minutes ago

DANVILLE – A 25-year-old local woman died after she was stabbed, hit with a metal hammer and run over by a car, according to court documents.
Authorities said Randi Huntley of 67B Cobbler's Ridge Road was killed by Jackson Mwangi, 28, 447 Cartier St., Manchester, who is charged with first-degree murder.

Union Leader article

[SBinRockrimmon]

This is sad, a little boy will grow up without his mother. My condolences to the victim's family.
This was very close to the school where children that are part of the YMCA after-school program were playing outside (my child included). Desperate people do desperate things, but I have to assume that police knew the suspect was no longer in the area and therefore not a threat.

What's sad is there is a little boy that will grow up without either parent.

Like most domestic cases I don't think the general public was ever in much danger, and I don't think the proximity to the school is an issue.

This hits close to home as I lost a good friend (ex co-worker) who was killed by her estranged husband a few years ago. He stabbed her to death in front of their then 3-year-old child. The child ended up testifying in the case. Despite this occurring back in 2007 the case just recently ended a few months ago and he was sentenced to life+ with no chance of parole.

There are no winners here, and my deepest condolences go out to the family. I hope the child left behind can remain with caring family members and they get him the treatment he will need in dealing with this tragedy.

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Danville slaying: Child may have seen mom die

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
NH365 - Events Calendar for New Hampshire

DANVILLE – One day before allegedly murdering the mother of his small son, Jackson Mwangi posted a message on his Facebook page hinting at trouble in his life.

"Only God can help me," he wrote.

The next day, authorities say the 28-year-old Manchester man repeatedly stabbed Randi Huntley and may have hit her with a hammer and ran her over with a car as the couple's 4-year-old son watched.

Union Leader article

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Police, mourners turn to Facebook

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
1 hour, 36 minutes ago

DANVILLE – Randi Huntley's life seemed so normal.

On Facebook, she talked about going out with friends and hanging at her Danville home with her 4-year-old son, Jaden. She called him her "lil man." She talked about work, especially on the nights when she had to work until 9:30 p.m. at a second job.

She talked about getting sick with bronchitis and watching TV. Nothing on the 25-year-old mother's Facebook page suggested that something could be wrong.

Her last post was on May 5. "Just hangin out at the house ... might go to bed early finally!" she wrote.

Union Leader article

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June 6, 2010
Loved ones gather at vigil for murdered mother

By Jillian Jorgensen jjorgensen@eagletribune.com

DANVILLE — Earlier in the week, police officers filled the driveway outside Randi Huntley's duplex. But last night, the space was full of flickering candles, flowers, and the people who loved her.

"She was just a wonderful person, a wonderful mom," said Donna Cody, who works at the daycare center Huntley's son has attended for five years. "Someone I'm going to miss."

Huntley, 25, died Monday after authorities say she was attacked by Jackson Mwangi, 28, of Manchester, the father of her young son. Mwangi, who authorities say stabbed Huntley, hit her with a hammer and drove over her, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Yesterday, friends gathered in the twilight of a warm evening to remember what they loved about Huntley. They remembered her as a hard-working mother who held two jobs, one at East Coast Lumber and another at Dollar Tree, and was outgoing with a great sense of humor.

"I worked with her at East Coast Lumber, and we loved giving each other a hard time," said Adam Goodrich.

Goodrich and his wife, Susan, lived in the other apartment in Huntley's Cobbler's Ridge duplex for three months. They moved out just before she was killed.

"I didn't know her for that long, but it feels like I have," Susan Goodrich said. "I was looking at pictures of her when she was a little girl, and she still had that smile."

Goodrich said she sometimes heard about problems Huntley and Mwangi were having.

"She would talk about her ups and downs with Jackson, and I would say 'Don't worry, it's going to get better,'" she said.

Joan Williams, a friend of Huntley's mother, remembered Huntley as the middle of three very close sisters who came from "one terrific family.

"Randi was just always happy and always smiling," she said. "I just don't know how their family is going to get through this."

Cody, the daycare provider, said Huntley would volunteer for parties and field trips at the daycare center.

"I miss her so much already," she said. "Just not seeing her everyday, it's tough."

But she said she thought Huntley's son would be "all right.

"He's got great family support," she said.

Candles and flowers left by the two dozen people who attended the candlelight vigil surrounded a large rock in the driveway of the duplex. For some, the vigil was a way of keeping Huntley near to their hearts.

"I just haven't let go yet," Cody said. "I just wanted to feel close to her for a last time."

• • •

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Slain Danville mom remembered at vigil

By JASON SCHREIBER
Sunday News Correspondent

New Hampshire Union Leader Classifieds

DANVILLE – Some were friends. Others were strangers.

In the driveway of the Cobbler's Ridge Road home where authorities say Randi Huntley was brutally murdered this week, about two dozen mourners gathered around a large rock last night.

They lit candles, left flowers, and drew hearts in the sand at a candlelight vigil organized by friends to remember the Danville mother.

Union Leader article

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June 11, 2010
Police: Suspect confessed to killing former girlfriend

By Jillian Jorgensen jjorgensen@eagletribune.com

PLAISTOW — Randi Huntley was bloody and having trouble breathing when medics found her in the driveway of her Danville home. But she still could speak.

"She said her boyfriend had stabbed her and run her over with a car," state police Sgt. Robert Estabrook testified in Plaistow District Court yesterday.

Estabrook, a member of the major crimes unit and the lead investigator into Huntley's killing, laid out details of her death. Those details included a confession from her ex-boyfriend, Jackson Mwangi, 28. During a probable cause hearing yesterday, Estabrook said Mwangi tried to kill himself after killing Huntley.

Huntley, 25, died after being stabbed, hit with a sledgehammer and run over with a car registered to Mwangi's mother.

District Court Judge David G. LeFrancois ruled there was probable cause to hold Mwangi, who is charged with first-degree murder. He is being held without bail.

Estabrook's testimony was based largely on interviews he conducted with Mwangi the night of Huntley's death on June 1.

Mwangi and Huntley have a preschool son, Jaden, and had lived together at the Cobbler's Ridge duplex where she was killed. But Estabrook said Huntley broke off the relationship in April.

Mwangi moved to Manchester, but kept in contact with Huntley, sending her text messages that were "threatening in nature," Estabrook said. Three days before he allegedly killed her, Mwangi met Huntley at her workplace, where he was dropping off their son.

"They got into an argument," Estabrook said. "He was angry, he was upset."

Suspect bought knife, BB gun

On the day of the killing, Mwangi took his son with him to two different Walmarts.

In Hudson, he purchased a hunting knife and zip ties, Estabrook said. In Salem, he purchased a BB gun. Estabrook said police reviewed security tapes from the two stores.

"It shows the defendant, with his son, purchasing these items at the counter," he testified.

From Salem, Mwangi went to Huntley's home that afternoon and met her outside.

"Jaden, his son, had to use the bathroom," Estabrook said.

When they went inside, Mwangi allegedly tried to restrain Huntley.

"He wanted her to put these cable ties, or zip ties, on her hands, so she would tie her own hands," Estabrook said.

Huntley refused — and Mwangi began attacking her, punching her in the side of her head, Estabrook said. Then he took out the newly purchased hunting knife, Estabrook said, and stabbed his son's mother.

"She was yelling for her son Jaden to get help," Estabrook said.

Mwangi later told Estabrook that his former girlfriend tried to fight him off.

"He said that she picked up that sledgehammer to protect herself from him," Estabrook said. "He took that sledgehammer from her and hit her in the head."

Witnesses: Mwangi drove over his former girlfriend

Huntley ran outside, where a couple moving in to a nearby apartment saw her, Estabrook said.

"They saw and heard a woman crying for help," he said.

Huntley fell to the ground, according to the witnesses, who said they saw a black man get into a gray car.

"(Mwangi) said at this point, he wanted her to feel as much pain as he was in," Estabrook said.

The witnesses said Mwangi ran Huntley down with the Infiniti.

"They saw the person look at Ms. Huntley, lying on the ground, and then they saw him run over her," he said.

The witnesses said the car was backed up twice before hitting Huntley.

"As Ms. Huntley was rising to her feet, at that time, the vehicle hit her," Estabrook testified.

Then Mwangi sped off, Estabrook said, leaving Huntley in the driveway.

She had been stabbed five times, twice in the area of her left breast, one wound nicking an artery to her heart. She also was stabbed in the shoulder, neck and her side, Estabrook said.

Neighbors wrote down the license plate number and called police at 3:50 p.m. Huntley still was alive when emergency workers arrived. She was rushed to Parkland Medical Center in Derry, where she died.

Police found Mwangi early that night on the side of Route 101 in Exeter.

"He had a zip tie around his neck," Estabrook said. "It was quite tight, so they removed it."

Estabrook said Mwangi told him that he put the tie there.

"He told me he wanted to kill himself for what he did to Randi," he said. "He told me Randi didn't deserve what he did to her. He spoke glowingly of her."

Investigator: Mwangi confessed to crime

Estabrook told Mwangi an ambulance was coming to check him out, but Mwangi refused medical attention.

"He told me that he did not want to go to the hospital," Estabrook said. "(He said) he should be going to jail because he had just murdered his girlfriend."

Police took Mwangi to the Exeter police station, where he waived his Miranda rights and spoke to Estabrook. Mwangi told police he had tried to kill himself twice before police found him.

Mwangi said he wound the zip tie around his neck, sat in a park-and-ride in Exeter, rolled up the car windows and turned on the heat. He then drove to a small pond off the side of Route 101. The water was only knee-deep, Estabrook said. Mwangi told him he laid down next to it and tried inhaling the water. But he couldn't kill himself, Estabrook said, so he decided to turn himself in.

About 40 minutes into the interview, Mwangi asked how Huntley was doing.

"I told him that she had expired due to her injuries," Estabrook said. "He asked that maybe we could stop talking."

Estabrook left Mwangi alone for about half an hour. When he returned, Mwangi wanted to continue.

"He said he wanted to tell me the whole truth," Estabrook said.

Defense attorney Adam Bernstein asked Estabrook yesterday about his client's state of mind leading up to the killing.

Estabrook said Mwangi told him his own mother was so worried about him she called Manchester police over Memorial Day weekend. Mwangi told Estabrook he had hoped police would find out about the threatening text messages he had sent so he could get help.

In the wake of his breakup with Huntley, Mwangi bought a bus ticket, but never used it.

"He said that because the whole thing bothered him, this breakup with Randi, he was going to go to Las Vegas to live in Vegas as a bum," Estabrook said.

Mwangi has not entered a plea because he is charged with a felony.

He will likely be indicted in the next three months.