Concord, NH – Attorney General John M. Formella, New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall, and Conway Police Chief Christopher Mattei announce that Connor J. Macleod (age 24) has been arrested in connection with the death of Alexis M. Leach (age 23) in Conway, New Hampshire this morning.

On Thursday, April 25, 2024, at approximately 11:30 P.M., the Conway Police Department responded to an apartment located at the River Turn Woods apartment complex at 36 Council Road in Conway. Upon entering the location, officers encountered Connor Macleod, as well as Ms. Leach, who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Ms. Leach later died from her wound at Memorial Hospital in Conway.  An autopsy was conducted this afternoon by Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mitchell Weinberg, who determined that the cause of Ms. Leach’s death was a gunshot wound to the neck, and the manner of her death was homicide.

Mr. Macleod was arrested on a charge of Manslaughter, contrary to RSA 630:2, I(b) for recklessly causing the death of Alexis M. Leach (01/12/2001) by shooting her with a firearm.

Mr. Macleod will be arraigned at a later date determined by the 3rd Circuit Court – District Division – Conway.

Lawrence Anthony Dunlap, 37, of South Spring Street in Concord, was arrested on Friday on 11 felony counts of criminal mischief. He was charged after a nearly two week investigation into close to a dozen vehicles that were keyed and damaged around Concord High School during the New Hampshire GOP convention at the school. The party rented the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium and the Main Street corridor for the function. In the early afternoon, when attendees began to leave, many with political license plates, including state representative registrations and political stickers, called police after seeing their vehicles damages.

Also Read

Detectives, according to Det. Sgt. Benjamin Mitchell of the Concord Police Department obtained video footage of a suspect — a white man with a beard and dark hair, riding a “longboard” skateboard near the damaged vehicles. A Concord Regional Crimeline alert was issued about the case and the suspect was later identified as Dunlap, Mitchell said.

A search warrant was requested for his apartment on South Spring Street.

On Friday morning, an “officer safety” BOLO (be-on-the-lookout) alert for “protective custody” with “possible mental health issues” was broadcast to law enforcement agencies around the state accusing Dunlap of leaving his home around 10:45 a.m. by foot. The alert stated a search warrant of Dunlap’s home “yielded firearms, a manifesto, suicide notes, and a bag containing zip ties, masks, and gloves.” In the alert, police said they believed all Dunlap’s vehicles were at his home. Police were working on an arrest warrant related to a felony criminal mischief incident, the alert stated.

Patch arrived at the scene just a few minutes after his arrest on South Spring Street. Neighbors reported police were at the building for several hours.

After being arrested, Mitchell said, Dunlap was held on preventative detention.

Dunlap, according to his Facebook feed, made some vague political statements online, attempting to create conversations with his friends. Some posts, however, were overtly political, espousing left-of-center views. In one, he likened the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building to “domestic terrorism” and shared a “socialism” graphic purporting to show “red” states received more in federal benefits than “blue” states.

“Some interesting data,” he wrote. “I did not fact-check it, so take it with a grain of salt.”

Dunlap was hired as a real estate agent for Realty One Group Next Level in October 2022, according to a Facebook post as well as real estate information online.

Police are “continuing with this investigation,” Mitchell said, with detectives asking anyone with information to contact Det. Evan Cristy of the Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Unit at 603-225-8600.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100 or online at concordregionalcrimeline.com.

A free, 24/7, confidential service can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress or those around them with support, information, and local resources. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Senators are considering creating a state-run “farm to schools” program to increase the amount of local produce that goes to school meals. 

House Bill 1678 would create a two-year pilot program to reimburse 10 public schools that purchase food from New Hampshire farms. The program would cover purchases of dairy, fish, pork, beef poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, cider, and maple syrup, and would allow schools to buy from food hubs, distributors, or directly from farms. 

Under the bill, schools would be reimbursed for 33 percent of what they spent. The state would spend $241,000 of general funds to fund the program.

The legislation passed the House earlier this month, 191-182, and is being considered now by the Senate Finance Committee. 

Supporters of the bill say it would help support farms and local food systems while also boosting nutrition in New Hampshire schools. But opponents, who include many Republicans, say the state should not be spending its own dollars on the effort, pointing to a $559,000 federally funded program the state approved last year that serves more schools. 

The bill would create a selection committee of people with knowledge of New Hampshire agriculture and school meal services, and would require that school districts apply to participate. Ten schools would qualify for the pilot program; the bill specifies there must be one from each county. 

The committee would be required to select a group of schools with a diversity in size, location, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The bill also requires the Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food to track the overall number of farms participating, the number of organic and sustainable farms that participate, and other metrics determined by the committee, and to provide a report every year to the Legislature. 

Nikki Kolb, operations director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire, argued the bill would help farms and the rest of the state by strengthening local food production. And she said it would assist New England Feeding New England, a cross-state coalition of farms that is striving to get local farmers producing 30 percent of the region’s food by 2030. 

“Over the last four years, we’ve seen how a largely import-based food economy can be affected by external conditions, leading to food insecurity,” Kolb said in testimony to the House earlier this year. “… If the pilot program goes well, it will set the stage for broader institutional purchasing in future years.”

Rep. Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican, countered that the state should not be spending so much money for just 10 school districts. He said the federally funded approach last year was more sustainable. 

“There’s better uses of general funds,” he said at a Senate hearing Tuesday.