New Hampshire
Man’s death while awaiting trial was not suspicious, autopsy says
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An autopsy has determined that the death of a man awaiting trial on charges of killing his mother off the coast of New England in a scheme to inherit millions of dollars was not suspicious, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said Wednesday.
Nathan Carman, 29, of Vernon, Vermont, was found dead in his cell in a county jail in New Hampshire on June 15. The attorney general’s office does not release the cause and manner in deaths that are not suspicious, according to spokesperson Michael Garrity. The U.S. Marshals Service in Vermont said it will not be releasing the cause of Carman’s death at the request of family.
The AG’s office confirmed that authorities consider a death to be not suspicious when they’ve determined no one else was involved, or if no crime was committed.
Carman pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the 2016 death of his mother, Linda Carman, and was scheduled to go on trial in October.
An eight-count indictment also said Carman shot and killed his wealthy grandfather John Chakalos in 2013 as he slept, in order to obtain money and property from his grandfather’s estate. But the indictment did not charge Carman with his grandfather’s killing, and he had consistently denied any involvement in the two deaths.
In September 2016, Carman organized a fishing trip with his mother during which prosecutors say he planned to kill her and report that his boat sank and his mother disappeared in the accident.
He was found floating on an inflatable raft eight days after leaving a Rhode Island marina with his mother, whose body was never recovered. Prosecutors allege he altered the boat to make it more likely to sink. Carman denied that allegation.
His lawyers Martin Minnella and David Sullivan criticized the indictment — including allegations Carman killed his grandfather, saying he was never charged with that crime.
Pennsylvania
Man convicted of driving into crowd, then killing mother gets 2 life terms
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man convicted of driving into a fundraiser crowd in Pennsylvania last summer, killing one and injuring 19 others, then going home and bludgeoning his mother to death has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
President Judge Gary Norton told Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes, 25, in Columbia County Court on Tuesday that his crimes “were the result of pure evil” as he sentenced him to two life terms in the two deaths. He also imposed an additional 123 to 380 years on 19 counts of attempted homicide.
Authorities said Sura Reyes told investigators that he was driving in Berwick after arguing with his mother Aug. 13 and was “tired of fighting with his mother, including about money, and wanted to be done with it.” At the same time, about 75 people had gathered in a blocked-off parking lot outside the Intoxicology Department bar for a fundraiser to benefit victims of a blaze in Nescopeck more than a week earlier that had killed seven adults and three children.
Police said Sura Reyes told them he drove past the gathering, then turned around and headed back to the bar “to drive through the crowd of people.” Rebecca Reese, 50, of Wilkes-Barre was killed and 19 others were injured, four critically. Police said Sura Reyes told them he then returned to his Nescopeck home and saw his mother, 56-year-old Rosa Reyes, in the street and he hit her with the vehicle and then struck her with a hammer several times.
The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reported that more than a dozen victims and supporters attended the sentencing, some weeping as they listened to testimony about that day, while others still too hurt to attend watched online, according to the district attorney’s office.
Sura Reyes declined to speak in court but told reporters outside that he was sorry. Defense attorney Janan Tallo said his client was remorseful and his actions were “not necessarily an evil criminal act” but more the result of a “mental health crisis.”
Prosecutors originally pursued the death penalty in the case but dropped those plans after Sura Reyes agreed to plead guilty to all charges in June. The judge also fined Sura Reyes $1.05 million and ordered him to pay $411,000 in restitution, although prosecutors acknowledged that it was unlikely the defendant would ever be able to pay that amount.
Delaware
AG says officers were justified in shooting, wounding home invasion suspects
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Delaware attorney general’s office has determined that New Castle County police officers were justified in using deadly force earlier this year after confronting armed suspects trying to flee a home invasion.
In a report released Wednesday, investigators concluded that the officers reasonably feared for their safety and the safety of fellow officers and residents. Two of the four suspects suffered non-lethal gunshot wounds in the incident, which was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras.
Among the suspects in the January incident is David Salasky III, whose father is serving two life sentences for the fatal stabbing of New Castle County Police Lt. Joseph Szczerba in 2011.
Police received a 911 call shortly after 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 22 from a man reporting that armed men were in his home and attacking his roommates.
Responding police officers encountered the suspects as they tried to flee the scene, including one carrying a .22 caliber rifle. Investigators said officers Sean Sweeney-Jones and Ryan Archangelo fired their service weapons, striking Alistair DiPasquale, who was armed with the rifle, and Evan Chandler. Salasky and codefendant Michael Edgerton retreated inside the home and ran out the back.
Salasky was confronted by Officer Alejandro Guillen, who fired one shot after Salasky turned toward him with a gun in his hand. Salasky was not hit.
Edgerton and DiPasquale were able to flee the area but were captured later. DiPasquale dropped his firearm as he fled the property. Chandler was wounded in the left arm and both legs. DiPasquale was hit in the left arm.
Criminal cases against the defendants are pending.
According to the report, Sweeney-Jones fired his weapon 14 times, and Archangelo fired five shots.
The home invasion occurred just over two years after Sweeney-Jones was involved in another deadly force incident. In that case, Lymond Moses was fatally shot after being confronted by three officers patrolling in a Wilmington neighborhood where several stolen vehicles had been found. Moses was shot after fleeing from officers in a vehicle, then turning around and driving toward them. Sweeney-Jones drew his weapon in that incident but did not fire it.
Investigators determined that lethal force was justified in that incident as well.
