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Stalker, harasser of New Hampshire journalists sentenced to 2 years

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Stalker, harasser of New Hampshire journalists sentenced to 2 years


The fourth and final man in a harassment campaign of two New Hampshire journalists and their families has been sentenced to prison.

Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Keenan Saniatan, 36, of Nashua, N.H., to two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release — the shortest of the sentences handed out to the co-conspirators.

He pleaded guilty to charges of both conspiracy to commit stalking and stalking across state lines in September, the same month he and his three conspirators were indicted by a federal grand jury.

The campaign in which Saniatan and his co-conspirators threw rocks through windows and spray-painted coarse words — including a derogatory word for women that begins with a “C” — and the ominous phrase “JUST THE BEGINNING” in red paint on homes was all in response to a New Hampshire Public Radio report on a man named Eric Spofford, founder of the Granite Recovery Centers, in March 2022, according to federal prosecutors.

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This coverage was seen as not quite glowing and so “a close personal associate” of the subject hatched the plan. According to federal law enforcement and prosecutors, a man named Eric Labarge enlisted the help of Saniatan and two other men, Tucker Cockerline and Michael Waselchuck, to retaliate against the reporter and her editor.

Saniatan in April 2022 threw a rock at and spray-painted the “C” word on the journalist’s home in Concord, N.H., according to court documents, on Labarge’s orders, and he did the same at her parents’ home in Hampstead, N.H. Cockerline and Waselchuck vandalized the homes of the other victim and that person’s parents, according to prosecutors, in three separate incidents in April and May 2022.

Talwani sentenced Labarge last month to 46 months in prison, and sentenced Cockerline and Waselchuck to 27 months and 21 months in prison, respectively, earlier this year. Each will have three years of supervised release following their sentences.

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New Hampshire

N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black

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N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black


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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.

A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.

Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.

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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.

Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.

In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.

During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.

When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote. 

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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.

While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.

As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.

While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.

“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.

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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.

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Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast

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Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast


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It may be March, but winter in New Hampshire is far from over. Just one week after a blizzard tore through the state with heavy snow and high winds, the state is getting another round of snowfall.

The state will get three to five inches during the evening and night of Tuesday, March 3, says the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine. While the accumulation will not be significant, the snowfall may cause dangerous road conditions and a layer of ice on the ground in certain parts of the state.

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Here’s what to know before tonight’s snow in New Hampshire, including snow totals and timing.

When will it snow in NH tonight?

According to the NWS, it will start snowing in New Hampshire during mid-afternoon or early evening and continue through the night. Specifically, snow will arrive to the southern part of the state around 2-3 p.m., spreading northwards through the rest of New Hampshire by 5 p.m.

Rain or freezing rain will mix in later this evening across southern New Hampshire, creating a wintry mix. All precipitation should move out of the state by midnight.

Due to the timing of today’s snowfall, the Tuesday evening commute will be affected, with the NWS warning to slow down and exercise caution while driving.

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How much snow will NH get tonight?

New Hampshire will get one to four inches of snow tonight, with one to two inches in northern New Hampshire, two to three inches in southern New Hampshire and three to four inches in the center of the state, with the possibility for five inches in localized areas.

In the Seacoast specifically, Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton and York are expected to get between two to three inches of snow, while Dover, Exeter and Rochester may get up to four.

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The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.

NH weather watches and warnings

The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the state of New Hampshire, in effect from 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 through 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4.

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Bedford man barred from conducting any securities business in New Hampshire

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Bedford man barred from conducting any securities business in New Hampshire





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