murder

Authorities release new image of Gardner man Aaron Pennington suspected of killing wife

October 26, 2023 by pkzadmin

Authorities have released a third image of Gardner’s suspected wife killer Aaron Pennington as they continue to seek the public’s help in locating him.

The image released Thursday appears to show Aaron Pennington as captured by a doorbell-type home camera and is watermarked as having been captured on Oct. 11.

This is the third image officials have released in their search for Pennington, 33, since they started their manhunt for him Sunday after discovering the body of his wife, Breanne Pennington, 30, on their bed in their home at 42 Cherry St. that morning. She had at least one visible gunshot to her head according to an arrest warrant affidavit and the casings of three bullets were found in the home, but no gun.

“Don’t say anything. Be quite (sic) If she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray Get on side of bed — very close proximity to head Put hole in her head,” Aaron Pennington allegedly wrote in a note on his phone the evening before the murder, according to court records.

The couple’s children are in the custody of the state.

The Worcester District Attorney’s office said they believe Pennington left his home at 9 in the morning of the murder. They issued an initial photo and a call for help in locating him and his white 2013 BMW SUV that day. By Monday night, a bow hunter had located the vehicle in a wooded area off Kelton Street in Gardner near Camp Collier, a Boy Scout camp.

The search for Aaron Pennington is ongoing. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Pennington is a 6-foot-2 white male with blonde hair, blue eyes and weighs about 175 pounds.

Anyone who sees Pennington is encouraged to contact the Gardner Police Department at 978-632-5600 or the Massachusetts State Police at 508-829-8326.

This is a developing story.

An image of Aaron Pennington, the Gardner man accused of killing his wife on Sunday, released Thursday by authorities searching for him. (Courtesy / Worcester DA)

Duxbury mother accused of killing her 3 kids held without bail, committed to psychiatric care

October 26, 2023 by pkzadmin

A Plymouth Superior Court judge has found Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother accused of strangling her three children to death earlier this year, “at imminent risk for self-harm” and ordered her held without bail and committed to psychiatric care at Tewksbury Hospital for a six-month period.

“It is my opinion that she does require ongoing psychiatric hospitalization,” Dr. Karin Towers, a forensic psychiatrist retained by the court, testified during Clancy’s Superior Court arraignment Thursday morning. Towers said she had examined Clancy earlier that morning and found the defendant presented with a flat affect and reported “unbearable depression and trouble getting through each day,” feelings of worthlessness and regular suicidal ideation.

Judge William F. Sullivan was convinced and ordered Clancy held without bail and committed to Tewksbury Hospital for an extended six-month stay without the need for monthly evaluations. The arraignment was held in Tewksbury Hospital via Zoom video teleconferencing. Clancy could not be seen in the video.

Sullivan set the next court date for Dec. 15.

Clancy, 33, is accused of strangling her three children with exercise bands in the basement of their home at 47 Summer St. in Duxbury the night of Jan. 24 before jumping out of a window in an apparent suicide attempt. Investigative affidavits filed in a lower court and released Tuesday indicated she also cut her wrists and neck before jumping from the second-floor window.

On Thursday, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague cast doubt to the seriousness of Clancy’s suicide attempt and described the cuts as rather superficial. She also laid out arguments to head off any defense regarding diminished responsibility due to Clancy not being of sound mind at the time of the homicides.

Sprague said that notes on Clancy’s phone and in notebooks found at the house document her life and the lives of her children, but in these writings she always appears to know who she is, where she is and describes “no hallucinations or delusions.” While the writings do allegedly include suicidal or homicidal ideations, Sprague said, these disappear following her stay at the beginning of January at McLean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Belmont.

Clancy was prescribed a medley of medications, Sprague said, and was taking three regularly by the night in question. Bloodwork examined after the alleged killings showed several medications in her system, though Sprague argued that the majority of these were in safe, therapeutic doses and the one that was found at a higher dose, Seroquel, is an antipsychotic and thus should diminish and not cause a likelihood of a violent outburst.

Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, said that he was at the house and “was able to see the blood that was on the floor, on the wall, on the windowpane” from his client’s wounds and dismissed out of hand Sprague’s argument that it was just some “dinky cut,” as what he saw reminded him more of “arterial spray.”

What Reddington saw in the house, he said, was evidence “in every room” of deep family love, with happy photos of the family and signs of the children’s creative output and education dotting the home.

Judge William F. Sullivan, center, listens as Plymouth Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague speaks during the Superior Court arraignment of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother accused of killing her three kids, held via Zoom from Tewksbury Hospital on Thursday morning. Clancy's defense attorney Kevin Reddington listens from the far right of the screen. (Screengrab / Plymouth Superior Court) — Judge William F. Sullivan, center, listens as Plymouth Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague speaks during the Superior Court arraignment of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother accused of killing her three kids, held via Zoom from Tewksbury Hospital on Thursday morning. Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington listens from the far right of the screen. (Screengrab / Plymouth Superior Court)

Murder warrant issued for missing Gardner man after wife found shot dead

October 25, 2023 by pkzadmin

A murder warrant has been issued for Aaron Pennington, the missing Gardner man wanted after police responded to the family’s home Sunday and found his wife dead after being shot in the face.

Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said the court issued the warrant three days after police began the search for Pennington who was previously sought in connection with his wife, Breanne Pennington’s death.

Police responded to the couple’s Cherry Street home in Gardner Sunday at around 9:14 a.m. after their four children went to a neighbor’s house and told the neighbor that “they could not find their father and that their mother was in her bedroom crying.” The 911 caller added the father’s car was no longer in the driveway.

Upon arrival, police found Breanne Pennington, 30, “lying in bed in an upstairs bedroom with obvious signs of death from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.” A responding paramedic declared Breanne Pennington dead at 9:30 in the morning, the warrant states.

The warrant features one new shocking detail not included in the affidavit seeking the warrant: a note dated Saturday at 7:04 p.m. found on a limited forensic examination of Aaron Pennington’s cellphone that reportedly read, “Don’t say anything. Be quite (sic) If she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray Get on side of bed — very close proximity to head Put hole in her head.”

The four children are in state custody. Police recovered three bullet casings at the scene, but not a gun, according to court documents.

The family had already decorated the house for Halloween, with a large “Boo” sign next to the front door and some small, colorful pumpkins flanking the stairs to the front door. A small object, unmistakably a child’s toy, rested in the front yard on Wednesday afternoon.

The house matched others in the neighborhood all spotted with stately maple trees. Nearby homes were decorated with the likes of skeletons and Nightmare before Christmas characters and several of their owners were bustling about with chores, including one taking in the trash bins for the Pennington home.

The neighbors, however, already showed signs of fatigue over being questioned about the Pennington family, with one woman throwing her hands up in disgust and shaking her head.

One man who declined to be interviewed did have a couple of small remarks.

“Nobody lives there anymore,” he said while doing some outdoor chores, adding one detail about the family: “They had their problems just like every married couple.”

Indeed, the application for a search warrant states that the Penningtons “had been dealing with marital issues for quite some time” and that Breanne Pennington “had plans of moving to Texas with the kids to be away from” him.

The document also states that Aaron Pennington “suffered from mental health issues and had threatened suicide.” While neither adult had a license to carry in Massachusetts, “Breanne Pennington was known to have a firearm at the residence for her protection,” though it is not clear if this was the murder weapon.

A massive search for Aaron Pennington began Sunday and has continued since.

A bow hunter spotted Aaron Pennnington’s 2013 white BMW 320 Monday in the vicinity of Camp Collier, a Boy Scout camp in Gardner.

Early’s office filed for the murder warrant, granted by Gardner District Court Wednesday.