Farmington Failures
[Note: Normally, Robbileaks likes to exercise a little humor and wit while exposing fraud, corruption, hypocrisy and ineptitude. However, this case is so staggering it requires a more sober approach.]
“Where there is little consequence for failure, there is no incentive to succeed.”
-Anonymous
On Sunday, January 29th, 2017, Farmington Police responded to a 911 call at 979 Meaderboro Road. Upon arrival, Farmington Police Officers discovered the bodies of Christine Sullivan, age 48, and Jenna Pellagrini, age 32. The women had been repeatedly stabbed and beaten. It was a brutal…an absolutely brutal murder. The case was immediately turned over to the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Homicide Prosecution Unit and the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit. The Attorney General’s Office assigned Sr. Assistant Attorney General Geoff Ward to the case. Major Crime Unit Commander, Lt. Scott Gilbert appointed Sgt. Brian Strong to lead the investigation on behalf of State Police.
The investigation was a complicated one to be sure. There was nexus to both interstate drug-dealing and at least one outlaw motorcycle gang. Nevertheless, on February 7th, 2017, the NH Department of Justice announced the arrest of Timothy Verrill, of Dover, NH, in connection with the two murders. Despite Verrill being in custody, the investigation continued for months as there were numerous angles to be covered and much more evidence to be gathered.
Another two and a half years of investigation and evidence collection occurred before the trial of Timothy Verrill began. Prior to the trial, there were the standard pretrial motions, filings, and of course discovery (sharing of evidence). The trial opened on October 15, 2019, with more motions and opening statements. For two weeks, the prosecution carefully laid out their case explaining how they believed Timothy Verrill murdered Christine Sullivan and Jenna Pellagrini. The prosecution rested and the defense began putting on their case. Almost immediately, all Hell broke loose...
Verrill’s defense team became aware of numerous pieces of evidence, some of which were exculpatory, that were missing from the discovery provided by prosecution. (For those who may not be aware, the prosecution MUST provide copies of, or give access to, any/all evidence collected during an investigation, and they must do so well in advance of the trial. Nothing can be withheld, and there can be no last-minute surprises.)
The trial was delayed so a review of evidence could be executed. The Attorney General’s prosecution team contacted the Major Crime Unit and insisted on an immediate audit of all evidence and exhibits collected. The defense moved for a mistrial based on lack of discovery. On November 1, 2019, the court ruled the case a mistrial. For the first time in the history of the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit, a mistrial occurred as a result of evidence not being turned over to the prosecution team. As a result, an alleged killer of two women was not held to account, and the families of the two victims went without justice.
Initially, the missing evidence appeared to be limited to just a few interviews. In a statement to WMUR TV, Senior Assistant AG Geoff Ward, who oversaw the investigation, said,
“There were five interviews with witnesses that for whatever reason, had never made their way to us.” Ward also added, “As the court found, this was a level of mismanagement at the Major Crime Unit. That’s something we’ve got to just deal with and make sure that we ultimately have everything we need to have so that we can provide that to the defense.”
Five interviews. Sr. Assistant AG Ward categorized five missing interviews as “a level of mismanagement at the Major Crime Unit.” Ward’s assessment of the Major Crime Unit’s performance was spot on. However, what is also interesting is the deflection of blame in the same statement. The AG’s Office sends two representatives to every homicide to oversee the investigation. In fact, a review of the DOJ website reveals the following:
“Homicide Prosecution Unit”
“The attorneys of the Homicide Prosecution Unit are involved in murder cases from the first call of a suspicious death, through the trial of the case in the superior court, and the appeal of the conviction in the supreme court. The attorneys work closely with state and local police and oversee all investigations in cases of murder.”
While the Major Crime Unit clearly dropped the ball in regard to forwarding interviews to the DOJ, how is it that the prosecutors overseeing the investigation didn’t realize significant material was missing? They should have known who was being interviewed and by which detectives. Thus, they should have known which materials were missing. As the DOJ member assigned to oversee this investigation, Sr. AAG Ward was clearly minimizing and deflecting his own responsibility. But more fallout was to come.
During the ensuing audit and internal investigation, there were multiple exhibits discovered that were never turned over. There were at least four members of the Major Crime Unit responsible for missing materials.
Detective Steve Sloper failed to turn over a report on a potentially exculpatory polygraph he conducted. He also failed to even do a report on an interview related to a second polygraph he conducted. Despite having advised a possible co-conspirator of their Miranda rights and interviewing them for over two hours, he did not bother to document the interaction with a report. He further neglected to submit the digital audio/video recording of that interview.
Detective Sergeant Matthew Koehler neglected to turn over numerous emails, text messages, and cell phone data. Some of these were from potentially involved parties or witnesses, and were gathered by other agencies.
Detective Steven McAulay failed to submit multiple reports on interviews, some of which he traveled all the way to Florida to conduct. His notes were not submitted. Cell phone data dumps were not turned in. Emails and text messages were missing. Audio recordings were omitted.
Detective Sergeant Brian Strong was the Lead, or Case Manager for this investigation. It was his responsibility to assign tasks, keep track of who was doing what, and to chase down reports, evidence and documentation that was collected by contributing level investigators. In addition to failing to keep track of the work of his subordinates (McAulay, Sloper and Koehler), he failed to hand in his own investigative materials. One-party phone recordings conducted by Strong with suspects were missing. Strong also neglected to submit photos, arrest reports, police logs, affidavits for warrants, recorded phone calls from jail, and much more.
The brief filed by the State of NH in objection to the Defense Motion to Dismiss is 552 pages long. (See link at bottom of blog) The Statement of the Case, Statement of Facts, legal arguments, etc., account for the first 153 pages of this filing. The other 399 pages are documents missing from the investigation. THREE HUNDRED NINETY-NINE PAGES OF MISSING MATERIAL. This does not include thumb drives, photographs, CD’s, and DVD’s, which were also missing. Sr. AAG Ward’s assessment of “five interviews with witnesses that, for whatever reason, never made their way to us” is just a bit of an understatement. Again, the responsibility for oversight of the investigation ultimately lay with the DOJ, specifically with Mr. Ward, and like the Major Crime Unit, he failed.
The Division of State Police conducted an internal investigation to find out who was responsible for missing materials and if there were any violations of the Professional Standards of Conduct. The investigation was conducted by none other than Major Crime Sergeant, Justin Rowe. (See “Rowe’d to Hell”)
Sgt. Rowe found that Sgt. Strong, Sgt. Koehler and Detective McAulay were all responsible for failing to turn in reports. Each had violated the Professional Standards on such matters. Sgt. Rowe also initially found that Detective Steve Sloper had likewise violated these Professional Standards. Additionally, Sgt. Rowe opined that Sloper lied to him during his interview, when he blamed his missing reports on another Detective who was not involved in the investigation. (This Detective learned of Sloper’s lie and filed a formal complaint against him.) It would appear nothing happened to Sloper for lying. Normally, a Trooper is terminated for lying in such circumstances. How did this happen? Who is Steve Sloper?
First and foremost, Sloper is a legacy. His father, Gary, wasn’t just a Trooper. He was the Colonel of the State Police. Commissioner Bob Quinn served as a Detective Sergeant under Colonel Gary Sloper. Additionally, Colonel Sloper hired now Colonel Nathan Noyes to the Division of State Police. Beyond that, Detective Sloper is known to frequently vacation with Colonel Noyes and his family. In Mafia terms, Steve Sloper is a “made man,” virtually untouchable. Thus, little things like failing to write reports, turn in reports or lying in an investigation come with no consequence.
As mentioned before, Sgt. Justin Rowe’s initial report found Sloper responsible and stated that he lied. The individual overseeing all of the internal investigations for the Farmington incident was Major John Marasco (See “Rules Are For Thee, Not For Me”). Maj. Marasco likely reviewed Rowe’s initial report and then called him in for a conference, along with the current Commander of the Major Crime Unit, Lt. John Sonia. It would appear a deal was struck: Rowe’s report would be amended by Lt. Sonia to take Sloper off the hook. As long as Rowe played along, his name would rocket to the top of the list for the upcoming vacancy of Lieutenant of Professional Standards. Thus, an amended report was issued. It would appear Marasco “fixed” this problem for Noyes and Quinn, in much the same manner in which he appears to have “fixed” the problem of Quinn running illegal queries on criminal records. (See “Rules Are For Thee, Not For Me) Thus, when Quinn needed to fill the vacant position of Director of Motor Vehicles, he needed to look no further than John “The Fixer” Marasco.
Given the monumental failures of these individuals, the Division did the only responsible thing they could. They promoted them. Yes, promoted…..All of them!
Sgt. Brian Strong was promoted to Lieutenant of Special Investigations.
Sgt. Matt Koehler was assigned as Commander of the Cold Case Unit.
Detective Steve Sloper was promoted to Sergeant in Major Crime, and then promoted again to Lieutenant of Professional Standards…the same unit in charge of internal investigations and ethics violations!
Detective Steven McAulay, who bears much of the blame for the Farmington Failure, received one of the first available promotions to Detective Sergeant in Major Crime. His reputation is so damaged, it is reported the Attorney General’s Office will not even allow him to be an affiant for search warrants and arrest warrants. The guy who couldn’t handle documenting interviews and handing in the reports is now overseeing homicide investigations. The promotion of McAulay leaves one wondering: If he represented the best candidate for a Detective Sergeant position, how bad were all of the other applicants?
Lieutenant Scott Gilbert, who was the Major Crime Unit Commander during this investigation, retired shortly thereafter. Despite being at the helm of the Major Crime Unit while this debacle unfolded, he was hired on as a Senior Investigator by the Attorney General’s Office. Apparently, the AG’s Office wasn’t as upset about this event as they indicated publicly.
Geoff Ward, the Senior Assistant Attorney General who was asleep at the wheel during this entire process, has ascended to the office of Assistant U.S Attorney under none other than Jane Young.
Sgt. Justin Rowe was promoted to Lieutenant of Professional Standards after standing by quietly while his investigation was revised in order to clear Steve Sloper. (He had to decline the promotion after it was learned he was sexually harassing a female subordinate. See “Rowe’d to Hell.”)
Finally, Major John “The Fixer” Marasco was rewarded with the Director of Motor Vehicles position for covering up as much of this as possible.
And who ultimately approved all of these promotions? Colonel Nathan Noyes and Commissioner of Safety Bob Quinn.
Long story short, each individual responsible for this unprecedented failure was rewarded for their efforts, just like those who covered for Commissioner Quinn’s illegal queries were likewise rewarded. Thus, only one conclusion can be drawn about the Division of State Police: It is a junior varsity, Mafia-like organization engaging in pseudo-fraternity antics, funded by the taxpaying citizens of New Hampshire who deserve much, much better. The Sullivan and Pellagrini families certainly do.
[Link provided below is to the brief filed by the State of NH in objection to the Defense Motion to Dismiss. It’s long but, as always, Robbileaks believes in transparency. Have at it! ⤵️ ]
