New Hampshire
Murder conviction. Bankruptcy. FBI sting. House candidate would like to explain. • New Hampshire Bulletin
Hudson and Litchfield voters will have three choices in a two-seat floterial House race in the September Republican primary: a longtime incumbent, a former legislator, and a man who moved into a Hudson rental about two months ago.
Mark Edgington, 53, is unique in other ways too.
In 1989, Edgington pleaded “no contest” to the second-degree murder of a Florida man he says he did not kill. A candidate running on fiscal responsibility, Edgington declared bankruptcy in 2004. He sued an FBI agent in 2021 after his Keene radio station was raided as part of a child pornography investigation. (He was never charged.)
Edgington, who arrived in New Hampshire in 2006, is a transplant from Florida via the Free State Project, and he distrusts the government. He is also the only candidate in the race with the backing of House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, an Auburn Republican who has called Edgington a close friend for 20 years.
“I’m going to do what I can to get him elected,” Osborne said. “I know there is one (candidate) I can count on for a vote every time. The other two, I’m not sure.”
The “other two” served alongside Osborne for years: Rep. Ralph Boehm, of Litchfield, who is seeking a ninth term, and former House member Kimberly Rice of Hudson. Rice did not return a message and Boehm believes Osborne recruited Edgington to oust him over a bill that sought to change the date of the state primary election. Osborne backed it. Boehm did not. It failed.
Osborne and Edgington, who moved from Walpole to run in Hudson, rejected that claim. Edgington said he would have moved and run elsewhere had he known two Republicans were running for the two seats.
“I can see why people would come to this conclusion,” Edgington said. “But I would ask people, ‘Would you seriously pick me to primary somebody?’”
In a pair of interviews this week, Edgington laid out a short list of undefined legislative priorities – parental rights, gun freedoms, and reining in government spending – and the reasons he believes he’s a good choice for voters despite his recent arrival to the district and his 1989 conviction for murder, something he referred to as a “mistake.”
“I would prefer that the whole world forget about it,” Edgington said. “That’s not going to happen. I don’t know why my biggest mistake at 17 is so very important when so rarely are someone’s mistakes at 17.”
Edgington was sentenced to 25 years in a Florida prison in 1989 for the murder of a motel manager in Manatee County, Florida. It was five years shorter than his co-defendant’s, Carmen Tungate.
Edgington was initially charged with being an accessory after the fact, not murder, in the beating and strangulation death of Ballapuram Umakanthan. Edgington said this week that charge was warranted because he hid in the bathroom while Tungate beat Umakanthan to death. Edgington then helped Tungate escape to Florida and later lied to the police, he said.
Authorities upgraded the charge to first-degree murder after someone reported to the authorities that Edgington had described having a bigger role in the murder, according to a police affidavit. In the affidavit, a police investigator recounted what the informant had reported.
“(Tungate) held (the victim) down while… (Edgington) strangled him until he was dead (defendant saw blood come out of Ballapuram ears),” it said. “(Edgington) then drove (Tungate) to the airport.”
Edgington said this week that the informant concocted that story out of spite because they were vying for the attention of the same woman. And, “he was someone who liked to be listened to,” Edgington said.
Edgington and Tungate negotiated their first-degree charges down by pleading no contest to second-degree, accepting their sentences without admitting guilt to the murder. Edgington maintained his innocence this week and said he accepted prison time because he believed Florida’s sentencing laws would let him leave in three years, about as long as it would take to go to trial.
He served eight.
“I’m not claiming to have been innocent. I’m not saying that,” Edgington said. “I am saying I was charged inaccurately. And had I not been there, the outcome would have been the same. This is something I cling to. I really really believe the outcome would have been the same had I not been there.”
Edgington left prison in 1998.
He found his way into radio, selling ads and then launching a radio show in Florida. On Labor Day 2006, he and a friend from the station, Ian Freeman, heard about the Free State Project and relocated to New Hampshire.
Freeman was sentenced to eight years in federal prison in 2003 for a bitcoin money laundering scheme and in February ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution to 29 victims.
In 2004, while still in Florida, Edgington declared bankruptcy, estimating his debts to be between $100,000 to $500,000. That included nearly $60,000 in credit card debt. Edgington said he eventually paid off individuals who had given him money but not the credit card companies.
“I made some investments that in retrospect were too risky,” he said. “I found the best way out was to get out of it. I do not claim to have been a completely whole person when I walked out of prison.”
Edgington was back in court in 2021, this time in New Hampshire, when he sued an FBI agent who had seized equipment from his Keene radio station during a child pornograpy investigation. Edgington said he believes someone set him up; no charges were filed.
In his federal lawsuit, Edgington demanded the items be returned and a “non-apology letter” from the FBI acknowledging the inconvenience the seizure of his equipment had caused.
Oborne told the Bulletin he was pleased but surprised when Edgington told him he was running. He knew the murder conviction would be hard to overcome. Edgington knew that too, he said.
He’d prefer voters consider his long career in radio, the absence of further criminal charges, and his work as a volunteer firefighter.
“The best thing I can do is live my life in the best way I can, to be the best person I can be,” he said. “And to do good things. I’ve been given a chance and I feel I haven’t squandered that chance. I don’t drink anymore. I don’t smoke anymore. I don’t do drugs anymore. I make good decisions and get good outcomes.”
The federal government has activated the New Hampshire National Guard’s 157th Air Refueling Wing in connection with the war with Iran.
“I’ve had a briefing myself, a classified briefing, but it’s really important on the messaging on this that we really coordinate with the Pentagon,” Gov. Kelly Ayotte told reporters during a press briefing following Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting.
Ayotte said she was unable to share additional details about the nature of the New Hampshire National Guard’s activity related to the conflict, including how many guard members have been activated or what role they are playing.
“We’re going to respect what messaging comes out of the Pentagon just to make sure that our men and women in uniform are fully protected and that we aren’t providing any information that could be used in a way that would be harmful to them,” Ayotte said.
In a statement Thursday, Ayotte said the unit had been deployed in late February to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in support of the operation.
Earlier this week, Pentagon officials confirmed that members of the Vermont National Guard were involved in attacks against Iran over the weekend, though our news partners at Vermont Public were not able to confirm additional details on the nature of the operation.
During the briefing with local reporters, Ayotte also stressed her support for servicemembers and those close to them.
“I have such respect for our men and women in uniform,” Ayotte said. “As you know, I come from a military family, and they have our full support, and we appreciate them and their families, and obviously anyone who is serving right now, and my thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost someone that they love.”
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – While Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said she opposes increasing highway toll rates across the state, the Senate voted Thursday to increase rates for out-of-state license plate holders.
It now goes to the House for consideration.
This would be a $1 increase for those who have out of state plates going through the tolls at Hooksett, Hampton and Bedford for out-of-state plates, a 75 cent hike for those taking Hampton’s Exit 2 and on the Spaulding turnpike at Rochester, and a 50 cent hike for those taking the exit off I-93 to Hooksett.
An analysis in the bill shows that this would increase toll revenue by $53.3 million in fiscal year 2027 and go up each year to generate $81.4 million a year in 2036.
Senate Bill 627 passed on a voice vote with two Republicans, Senators Regina Birdsell of Hampstead and William Gannon of Sandown opposing.
Senator Mark E. McConkey, R-Freedom, moved to take the bill off the table and offered an amendment.
He said the last time there was a systemwide increase to the turnpike toll was 19 years ago.
“I am sure we could all agree the cost of operations…has continued to escalate when revenue is not rising with it,” and he noted that with an enterprise fund, the state can only spend what it takes in.
The state has just completed a 10-year highway plan and there was a $400 million shortfall in projects that could not be paid for under the current income.
McConkey said the measure would not increase tolls for New Hampshire drivers with a state license plate.
“Why don’t we ask our neighbors,” to pay a toll increase. “We are getting the best of all worlds,” by passing the bill, he said, including “protecting our residents” and having resources for improvements to the turnpike system.
Sen. Gannon, R-Sandown, asked McConkey if there are any studies on impacts near the border on businesses.
If implemented, McConkey said the state will be the 27th lowest in per mile cost still. McConkey said the bill would also increase from seven to 14 days the amount of time for those with NH license plates to pay for a toll adding there are other states that also have different rates for out-of-state users.
The Hampton toll cost would go from $2 to $3, while Hooksett and Bedford would rise from $1 to $2 for out-of-state plates.
New Hampshire currently has the lowest rate per mile among states with tolls roads.
The governor said she does not support a toll increase.
“We are not going to put a burden on drivers for a toll increase,” Ayotte said. “Families are struggling.”
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