FILE 97 / 13 December 2018 / 138 MIN / full

Overwhelming Evidence Of Overkill

Belmont, New HampshireListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We are going to New Hampshire, going to Belmont, New Hampshire; it's in Belknap County about 0:07:37

History, in brief

Town note

Water power from the Tioga River helped it develop as a mill town.

about 0:11:13

1833

In 1833 the Gilmanton Village Manufacturing Company was built, making cotton and woollen textiles.

about 0:13:12
All 16 history facts

Town note

Water power from the Tioga River helped it develop as a mill town.

about 0:11:13

1833

In 1833 the Gilmanton Village Manufacturing Company was built, making cotton and woollen textiles.

about 0:13:12

1921

In 1921 it became the Belmont Hosiery Company, making silk and woollen stockings.

about 0:15:11

Town note

The mill building was later renovated and is now a community centre.

about 0:15:37

1859

Belmont was separated from Gilmanton by an act of the legislature and incorporated in 1859 as Upper Gilmanton.

about 0:15:58

1869

In 1869 the name was changed to Belmont after August Belmont.

about 0:16:05

Town note

August Belmont was a German Jewish American politician, financier, foreign diplomat and ambassador, chairman of the Democratic National Committee in the 1860s, and a horse breeder who founded and gave his name to the Belmont Stakes.

about 0:16:26

Town note

The town hoped he would contribute to it, but he never acknowledged the gesture.

about 0:17:18

1887

Richard Paul Pavlick, 1887 to 1975, a retired postal worker from New Hampshire, stalked president-elect John F. Kennedy with the intent of assassinating him on December 11th, 1960 in Palm Beach, Florida.

about 0:18:29

Town note

Pavlick planned to blow himself and Kennedy up with dynamite but stopped because Kennedy had his wife and children with him.

about 0:18:56

Town note

He was arrested before he could stage another attempt.

about 0:19:55

1860

The population was about 1,200 in 1860 and 1,900 by 1960.

about 0:20:17

1970

It was 2,400 in 1970 and is now 7,315, up 26 per cent since 1990.

about 0:20:21

The figures, as told

Religious

33%

Biggest faith: Catholic, 21.5%

about 0:22:00

Who lives here

White 88% · Black 3.7% · Asian 0.26% · Hispanic 5.53%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ about 20% higher than the norm

about 0:28:53

Violent crime
▲ about a third higher

about 0:28:53

Money

Median home value$201,600
Two-bedroom rentabout $1,150
Median household income$65,500
Cost of living103

For sale

$178,500, 1,800 square feet

Three-bedroom, two-bath house

about 0:26:35
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2018

Population

"7,315"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:20:21

Population growth since 1990

"up 26%"

Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:20:21

Population in 1860

"about 1,200"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:20:17

Population in 1960

"1,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:20:17

Median age

"about 39 and a half"

Comparison: "about two years older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:20:21

Married population

"about 57%"

Comparison: "normally 50-50". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:13

Widowed population

"about half the normal rate"

Comparison: "normal rate". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:18

Divorce rate

"about normal"

Direction: about the same.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:21

White population

"88%"

Comparison: "63% is the norm in the country and 90% in small towns". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:43

Black population

"3.7%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:43

Asian population

"0.26%"

Comparison: "five per cent is average". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:21:43

Hispanic population

"5.53%"

Comparison: "a third of the norm in the country". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:00

Religious population

"33%"

Comparison: "50-50 is normal". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:22:00

Voted Democrat in the last presidential election

"about 39%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:16

Voted Republican in the last presidential election

"55%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:16

Independent voters

"a little over 6%"

Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:23:16

Unemployment rate

"2.6%"

Comparison: "5.2% nationally, exactly half". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:06

Median household income

"$65,500"

Comparison: "US median about $53,500". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:22

Cost of living

"103"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2018 about 0:24:55

Median home cost

"$201,600"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:13

Homes worth between $150,000 and $300,000

"about 50% of houses"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:25:35

Average two-bedroom rental

"about $1,150"

Comparison: "a little below the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:04

Three-bedroom, one-bath foreclosure

"$79,900, 1,296 square feet"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:23

Three-bedroom, two-bath house

"$178,500, 1,800 square feet"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:35

Three-bedroom, three-bath farmhouse with converted barn

"$219,000, 2,358 square feet"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:58

Property crime

"about 20% higher than the norm"

Comparison: "the norm". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:53

Violent crime

"about a third higher"

Comparison: "the norm". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:53

The reviews

No rated reviews

No reviews recorded.

In New Hampshire

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The story

Belmont, New Hampshire, sits in the middle of the state, about half an hour from Concord and two hours from Boston, in Belknap County. Jeremy's sister Jennifer, twenty-six, worked in a retirement home. The three of them used drugs together, described in court reporting as methamphetamine or crank. Jennifer's friend Crystal Sandborn telephoned her during the summer and heard a man in the background, filled with rage, calling Jennifer a whore and saying he was going to kill her. By September the fighting had driven Jennifer out of the trailer and into her father's house, though she stayed in contact with the group. The others left and Jeremy stayed. There was an argument in the car and it continued when they reached the trailer. The noise woke Mark Thompson, who lived in an RV on the same property. He got dressed and looked out again. Thompson closed the blinds. He asked Thompson to help drag the bodies to the back of the trailer so he could burn them. Thompson pointed out that a fire in the middle of the night would be seen for miles. He offered to warm up his car so they could take the bodies somewhere else, then drove away and did not return. A couple of hours later he went to the police. Asked whether he had killed them, his demeanour changed: he began breathing heavily and slumped in his chair, but continued to deny it and ended the interview. Police then obtained permission from his grandparents to search the ninety acres. Cadaver dogs were brought in, and directly behind the trailer, in a half-burned debris pile, they found both bodies. An autopsy showed Jennifer died within seconds of a gunshot wound to the chest, with a second wound to her shoulder and bleeding at the back of her head consistent with being dragged. Jeremy had twelve stab wounds, gunshot wounds to the face, back, buttock and leg, marks consistent with strangulation, and a forehead injury consistent with being struck with the butt of a rifle. Jennifer's blood covered the kitchen; Jeremy's was on the carpet, floor, floor mat and walls. Bullet holes were found in the front door, a wall beside the refrigerator and the refrigerator door, the last patched with fresh caulking, and a tube of the same caulk was in his bin. A .22 calibre handgun was missing. In the booking area he shouted that he had not killed them and that they had attacked him out of nowhere, and later said the whole thing stemmed from being kicked in the balls and pushed into his television. At arraignment the prosecutor said the attacks were fuelled by drugs and alcohol; the Hewards' father said the family had known of the abuse and that Jennifer was too frightened to go to the police. The plans included photographing Thompson to confirm his identity, holding him at gunpoint and making him load the missing handgun before shooting him with it to look like suicide, wiring a bomb under his car seat, and dropping acid into his fuel tank. The defence argued that the Hewards were killed over a failed drug deal involving Jack Vincent of Northfield and Jeff Torallo of Laconia, and that Thompson was covering for them.

The case

Murders of Jennifer and Jeremy Heward

Victims

Jennifer Heward (26). Jeremy's sister, girlfriend, worked in a retirement home
Jeremy Heward (29). Jennifer's brother, known as Jeremiah, friend and drug companion

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 13 December 2018.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Mark Thompson. neighbour living in an RV on the property; saw the attack and the dragging, and reported it to police
Crystal Sandborn. Jennifer's friend; heard threaten to kill her, saw him hold a gun to her head and slam Jennifer's head off a door
Michael Griffin. 22-year-old who jumped the railing and lunged at during the preliminary hearing
Jack Vincent. of Northfield; named by the defence as involved in the failed drug deal
Jeff Torallo. of Laconia; named by the defence as involved in the failed drug deal
Frederick. Crystal Sandborn's brother, who was hanging out at the trailer

The timeline

  1. 1987 Jr., a Florida police officer, resigns after an internal investigation into a sex and drugs scandalabout 0:36:22
  2. the summer of 2006 Jennifer Heward moves most of her belongings into trailer; she, and Jeremy use drugs there together ( trailer)about 0:52:18
  3. the summer of 2006 Crystal Sandborn hears a man yelling at Jennifer on the phone, calling her a whore and saying he will kill herabout 0:50:00
  4. around the same time Shirley reports a break-in at trailer and the theft of a shotgun ( trailer)about 0:44:10
  5. September 2006 After too many fights Jennifer takes her belongings and moves into her father's house (Jennifer's father's house)about 0:52:35
  6. September 19th, 2006 , Jeremy Heward and several friends spend the evening using drugs at the trailer; everyone leaves except Jeremy ( trailer)about 0:53:52
  7. September 19th, 2006 Jennifer telephones to be collected from a friend's house in Franklin; he and Jeremy drive over (friend's house in Franklin)about 0:55:12
  8. September 19th, 2006 and Jennifer argue in the car and the argument continues after they reach the trailer ( trailer)about 0:55:59
  9. September 19th, 2006 Mark Thompson sees punching Jeremy and throwing him to the ground, and shouts 'Don't kill him, Kirk' (Mark Thompson's RV)about 1:01:02
  10. September 19th, 2006 Thompson looks out again and sees dragging Jennifer out of the trailer by her feet ( trailer)about 1:02:16
  11. September 19th, 2006 tells Thompson 'I killed them' and asks for help dragging the bodies to the back of the trailer to burn them (Mark Thompson's RV)about 1:04:20

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode