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Jury to resume deliberations in trial of Logan Clegg, charged with killing New Hampshire couple

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Jury to resume deliberations in trial of Logan Clegg, charged with killing New Hampshire couple


CONCORD, N.H. — A jury on Friday ended its first day of deliberations without issuing a verdict in the case of a man charged with fatally shooting a retired New Hampshire couple on a hiking trail, with prosecutors saying he lied to police to cover up his crimes and defense attorneys saying authorities arrested the wrong person.

Logan Clegg, 27, is charged with second-degree murder for what prosecutors described as “knowingly and recklessly” causing the deaths of Stephen and Djeswende “Wendy” Reid. The couple, who had done international development work, had recently retired and were shot multiple times after going for a walk on the trail near their apartment in the city of Concord on April 18, 2022.

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Logan Clegg talks with defense attorney Maya Dominguez at his trial at Merrimack County Superior Court, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Concord, N.H.

Geoff Forester/The Concord Monitor via AP, Pool, File

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The jury will resume deliberations Monday.

The Reids’ bodies, found several days later, had been dragged into the woods and covered with leaves, sticks and debris, police said. Clegg was living in a tent near the trail at the time. His trial began Oct. 3 and lawyers delivered closing arguments Thursday.

Clegg also is charged with several counts of falsifying physical evidence and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. He said in court Thursday that he was guilty of the latter charge.

After the Reids were reported missing, Clegg, who was questioned by investigators searching for them, provided a false name. He later burned his tent, erased information from his computer and bought a bus ticket out of Concord, prosecutors said.

Investigators eventually found and arrested Clegg in October 2022 in South Burlington, Vermont, with a one-way plane ticket to Berlin, Germany, a fake passport, and a gun in his backpack.

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Prosecutors said that his repeated lies, attempt to flee and the gun in his backpack offered clear evidence of his guilt.

“The state has proven to you … that the defendant, and the defendant only, killed Stephen and Wendy,” prosecutor Joshua Speicher said, describing the killing as senseless. “We have proven this beyond a reasonable doubt. We have proven to you how he did it, when he did it, where he did it.”

Speicher added, “What we don’t know is why. We just don’t know.”

Clegg’s lawyers said he did not kill the Reids, and that the only reason he gave police an alias and left New Hampshire was because he had been hiding from the authorities after violating his probation from 2021 on burglary and theft charges in Utah. They said he had already spent time overseas, in Portugal, before moving back to the United States.

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Djeswende Reid and Stephen Reid.

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New Hampshire Attorney General’s office


Defense attorney Mariana Dominguez said the state’s case was full of holes.

“Logan Clegg is not guilty,” she told the jury in her closing arguments. “Police investigated, but instead of looking at the science and at the evidence with clear eyes, they speculated. They assumed. … They saw only what they wanted to see. They got the wrong guy.”

Clegg’s lawyers said an analysis of shell casings and bullets found in the area could not conclude that his gun fired the shots and that the casings could have come from a variety of guns.

“They have no idea what gun killed the Reids,” Dominguez told the jury, adding that police “only had eyes” for Clegg’s gun.

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But prosecutors said the bullets and casings came from Clegg’s gun.

Both sides also gave differing accounts of a woman who was walking on the trail with her dogs and allowed the Reids to pass her and walk ahead. She later heard gunshots, then came across a man on the trail before continuing her hike.

Defense attorneys argued that the man she saw on the trail was not Clegg because the clothing he had on did not match the prosecution’s description.



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New Hampshire

Windham Man Indicted On Strangulation Charge: Superior Court Roundup

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Windham Man Indicted On Strangulation Charge: Superior Court Roundup


BRENTWOOD, NH — A Rockingham County grand jury indicted the following people recently.

Francine Annesse Allen, 59, of Cove Road in Salem on a felony theft by unauthorized taking charge. She was accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart in Salem on Feb. 20 after being convicted on theft charges twice before.

Virgilio Ceballo Arias, 22, of Brookfield Street in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on receiving stolen property, concealing the identity of a vehicle, and two possession of altered, forged, or counterfeited title charges, all felonies. In Salem, on March 20, he agreed with Estuary Lanfranco, E.G., and Xaviel Rodriguez Torres to knowingly retain a stolen 2022 Honda CR-V, possessed a 2023 Acura TLX with a VIN removed, and possessed altered titles from New Jersey with the name of another person who did not own the vehicles listed, according to the indictments.

Daniel Joseph Banks, 54, of Milton Road in Rochester on three felony attempted falsifying physical evidence charges. He was accused of attempting to delete his LandAirSea GPS account on June 5, June 8, and June 9, 2023, in Portsmouth to impair an investigation.

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Dannie K. Barrett, 54, of Middle Street in Portsmouth on three felony arson-pecuniary loss more than $1,000 charges. He was accused of starting dumpster fires on Jan. 25, Feb. 4, and Feb. 17 on Middle Street in Portsmouth, damaging property owned by Waste Management.

Melissa Ann Boucher, 35, of Myrtle Street in Manchester on bail jumping and two driving while being certified as a habitual offender committed while on release charges, all felonies, as well as a disobeying an officer charge. She was accused of providing a false name to a Salem police officer on March 12 and driving on Pelham Road. Boucher was also accused of driving in the North Broadway Crossing Plaza in Salem parking lot on March 4. On April 11, she failed to appear in Salem District Court, leading to the bail jumping charge.

Rebecca Christine Brown, 25, of Asbury Street in South Hamilton, MA, on possession of MDMA and possession of ketamine, both felonies, as well as driving under the influence on Interstate 95 in Hampton Falls on Jan. 25.

Rachel Marie Burlington, 35, of Marsh Lane in Hampton Falls on a felony count of unauthorized use of a propelled vehicle or rented property. She was accused of exercising unauthorized control over a 2021 Nissan Versa, owned by National Rental, between May 8 and June 2, 2021, in Londonderry.

Edwin Zayas Correa, 31, of West Lowell Avenue in Haverhill, MA, on possession of oxycodone and possession of fentanyl, both felonies, as well as driving under the influence and operating without a valid license charges. He was accused of driving on Interstate 93 in Londonderry while under the influence and possessing drugs on Jan. 30.

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Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.



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Manchester Police Decry Illegal Fireworks As Group Breaks Ordinance

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Manchester Police Decry Illegal Fireworks As Group Breaks Ordinance


MANCHESTER, NH — The Manchester Police Department is reminding locals that fireworks are illegal after a group of people were caught lighting them early Thursday morning.

The report was made around 12:20 a.m. on Lake Shore Road near Massabesic Lake, from where officers received several noise complaints.

Authorities arrived at the scene to find five people — two adults and three juveniles — with fireworks in the middle of the road and remnants that were still smoking, police said.

Find out what’s happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“City ordinances were issued and the juveniles were picked up by their parents,” according to police.

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Police added that several reports have been made in the past few months of illegal fireworks being lit and disturbing residents in the area of Island Pond Road and Lake Shore Road.

Find out what’s happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Manchester officers are increasing enforcement in the area and will continue to enforce the city ordinances,” according to police. “As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, please remember it is illegal to set off fireworks in the city of Manchester.”


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To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.



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Meet the collector behind Portsmouth Athenaeum’s NH primary exhibit

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Meet the collector behind Portsmouth Athenaeum’s NH primary exhibit


It was the dashboard dolls that did it.

A circa-1964 set depicting candidates President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Barry Goldwater put Durham attorney Susan Roman on the path of collecting political memorabilia at a young age.

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The dashboard dolls were a gift from her uncle, and are on display at the Portsmouth Athenaeum’s Randall Gallery — right beneath a pair of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ famed mittens. Roman was Sanders’ New Hampshire operations director during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Her massive collection of posters, signs, buttons, toys, jewelry − and just about anything else you can think of − is a bipartisan delight.

“My collecting runs the gamut,” she said. “I am not partisan in my collecting.”

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This is good news for those who visit the Portsmouth Athenaeum exhibit, “First in the Nation: New Hampshire Presidential Primaries, 1920-2020,” which runs through November.

“I’m a huge supporter of the New Hampshire primary and retaining its first-in-the-nation status,” Roman said. “We are small enough that it’s possible to meet all or almost all the candidates in person and hear their ideas directly without the filter of mass media.

“You can stand in living rooms sharing coffee or at neighborhood barbecues with someone who will become president.”

Athenaeum members Mary Jo Monusky, Ceal Anderson and Mara Witzling co-curated the exhibit.

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Roman, a member of the University of New Hampshire Class of 1974, campaigned for Democrat George McGovern starting in the summer of 1971. McGovern lost in 1972 to President Richard Nixon.

That year Roman helped organize the first mass voter registration event on the University of New Hampshire campus. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the eligible voting age from 21 to 18, had been ratified in 1971.

“It was an amazing day,” Roman said of the turnout at the UNH field house.

The exhibit also features images of candidates campaigning in New Hampshire by photographers Jim Cole, Renee Giffroy, Roger Goun, Meryl Levin, and Michael Sterling. A video montage by Dennis Kleinman compiles presidential campaign slogans and songs from 1920 to 2020.

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The exhibit is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum, 9 Market Square, is a nonprofit membership library and museum founded in 1817. The research library and Randall Gallery are open Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 603-431-2538 or visit portsmouthathenaeum.org.



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