Also on today’s menu:
Cold Case Unit Produces New Image Of Maura Murray
Former Corrections Officer Charged With Murder
The Lakes Region Sled Dog Club has canceled this year’s World Championship Sled Dog Derby, scheduled for February 16-18, because of the lack of snow. With above-freezing temperatures in the forecast for the rest of this week, and no snow expected until next Tuesday, the ground will be too wet and muddy to conduct the race, which traditionally attracts mushers and sled dog teams from across the U.S. and Canada. The club has to give mushers at least five days’ notice of the race date to provide time for travel.
The club’s raffle still will take place, as tickets have already been sold. The club will draw the winning tickets on Sunday, February 18, at 4 p.m., live-streamed on Facebook Live. Tickets are available at lrsdc.org.
Intended to raise money for prizes for the winning sled dog teams, a portion of the raffle proceeds will go instead to the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction and the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation. The club will retain the rest of its fundraising proceeds for next year’s race.
Discussion: Rising temperatures due to climate change are threatening the continued running of the sled dog derby and other traditional winter events. Laconia’s World Championship Sled Dog Derby used to be a major attraction that also brought presidential candidates to the city before the New Hampshire Primary had to move to earlier dates in order to remain the first in the nation as required by law. The derby gives a taste of what the Iditarod — an event that simulates the 975-mile freight route to Nome and commemorates the part that sled dogs played in the settlement of Alaska — is like.
Cold Case Unit Produces New Image Of Maura Murray
The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit has produced an age-progression image developed by the FBI to generate new leads in the missing-person case of nursing student Maura Murray. She disappeared on February 9, 2004, with her damaged car found in Haverhill.
In releasing the rendering that shows what she might look like today, Attorney-General Formella said, “It is our hope that this twentieth anniversary of Ms. Murray’s disappearance will bring renewed attention to the case that might ultimately lead to justice and closure for the Murray family.” He emphasized, however, that the action is not based on any new information.
Maura was 21 and a student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst at the time of her disappearance. She packed her belongings from her dorm room and left the college that day, with a surveillance camera at an ATM recording her image, wearing a dark jacket and jeans. Later, at 7:30 p.m., her black Saturn sedan was discovered off Route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire, with what appeared to be damage from an accident. A private citizen reported seeing and speaking with a woman at the accident scene, but by the time police arrived, she was not there. Maura has not been seen nor heard from since.
Maura Murray had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, was an avid runner, and enjoyed hiking in the White Mountains.
Discussion: Forensic tools have advanced in the past 20 years, but solving a case like this is not easy when many of those originally interviewed by authorities are no longer alive and any missed evidence would be hard to come by. However, there have been some amazing cases of crime-solving, and perhaps this effort (and the inevitable podcasts) will lead to answers at last.
Former Corrections Officer Charged With Murder
Former Corrections Officer Matthew Millar, 39, of Boscawen is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Jason Rothe, 50, a patient at the Secure Psychiatric Unit of the Department of Corrections.
The affidavit in the case alleges that, on April 29, 2023, six corrections officers used force against Rothe, with Millar applying downward pressure on Rothe’s neck and torso with his knee and arms for several minutes while Rothe was handcuffed and faced-down on the floor, resulting in Rothe’s death. On October 25, 2023, Dr. Mitchell Weinberg of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Rothe died from traumatic (compressional) and positional asphyxiation.
The Attorney-General’s Office does not anticipate bringing criminal charges against any of the other corrections officers involved in the incident. Attorney-General John Formella said that Millar had received training on asphyxia and use of force which detailed the risk of death inherent with the specific manner of restraint he applied.
Discussion: Millar has not yet been found guilty of the charge. If true, however, this would be another case of an officer disregarding the signs of distress and showing a reckless disregard for human life.