Viewing a Tragic Case Through the Eyes of Investigators

U.S.|Viewing a Tragic Case Through the Eyes of Investigators

As a nationalist reporter, I usually commencement my time skimming fractional a twelve determination newspapers, looking for section quality stories that mightiness merit a person look. I was doing that successful September 2020 erstwhile I came crossed an point connected Seacoast Online, from New Hampshire’s Portsmouth Herald, that puzzled me.

A antheral successful Kittery, Maine, named Nelson Dion had pleaded blameworthy to national charges of crossing authorities lines to interruption a extortion order. His erstwhile partner, Tanya Neal, was not astir to spot this outcome; tragically, she had jumped to her decease from the Piscataqua River Bridge successful 2016.

Violating a extortion bid is simply a comparatively low-level home unit offense, seldom meriting 700 words successful the newspaper. In this case, though, the authorities had stuck with the probe for 5 years, involving officers from 4 departments successful New Hampshire and Maine arsenic good arsenic the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Not lone that — the F.B.I. cause connected the lawsuit was Tommy MacDonald, who had served connected the task unit that hunted down James (Whitey) Bulger, the Boston mob boss. To get Mr. Dion to confess to violating the extortion order, Mr. MacDonald had acceptable up a sting operation, including peculiar agents wearing fastener cameras.

Why, I wondered, was the authorities going to specified lengths to prosecute a comparatively low-level home unit case?

It took maine much than six months to statesman to recognize the answer.

In April, I was yet capable to interrogation Ryan Sanford, the constabulary detective who had pulled implicit Ms. Neal successful 2016 for a postulation violation. We spoke for 2 hours and 28 minutes. By the clip I left, I had a amended consciousness of the hard decisions instrumentality enforcement officers look erstwhile they measurement however to enactment connected allegations of abuse.

It had each started with that postulation stop. When Ms. Neal told Officer Sanford that she was trying to get distant from her partner, helium took contiguous action, moving her to a structure for victims of home unit and gathering capable accusation for the constabulary to apprehension Mr. Dion connected battle charges the adjacent day. When Officer Sanford dropped her disconnected that night, helium was satisfied that helium had done everything helium could to support her safe.

But 7 weeks later, helium was called to the country of her suicide, and it became wide that each the steps helium had taken had travel undone. Mr. Dion had been released connected bail and resumed interaction with Ms. Neal, breaching a tribunal order. After that, she near the structure and began showing up to enactment with caller injuries. The constabulary suspected that the 2 were backmost successful contact, successful usurpation of Mr. Dion’s bail conditions, but since the authorities ne'er spotted them together, they took nary action.

Then Ms. Neal jumped to her death. Her grounds had been cardinal to the prosecution of the battle case, truthful that complaint was dismissed. The complaint of violating a extortion bid — a national charge, since it occurred crossed authorities lines — was the lone 1 near to enactment on.

When I began to speech astir this lawsuit with the constabulary and prosecutors — a constellation of them, successful New Hampshire and Maine — their broader vexation with home unit cases poured out.

They said that restraining orders are violated casually and hard to enforce; that rules astir grounds mean courts perceive lone a fraction of a lawsuit history; that juries inactive get stuck connected wherefore a unfortunate would instrumentality to a unsafe situation. “I genuinely consciousness similar we’re putting Band-Aids connected slug holes,” Shira Burns, an adjunct territory lawyer successful York County, said.

It is uncommon for maine to perceive the constabulary openly criticizing the transgression justness system, and I was struck by the extent of their emotion. My intent successful penning the communicative was to seizure that. In my experience, erstwhile insiders statesman to archer you astir the flaws successful their ain systems, it’s worthy paying attention.

When I sat down to write, I had much than 100 pages of notes and galore hours of recorded interviews. I had to acceptable speech overmuch of that research. I was not unpacking the question of wherefore Ms. Neal was successful a unsafe concern oregon wherefore she returned to it. And I was not driving location a azygous acquisition astir however home unit is prosecuted.

I had the accidental to archer 1 story, and I chose the 1 that had funny maine from the opening — of the radical who had tried to intervene successful her life, wherefore they weren’t capable to and wherefore they ne'er fto her lawsuit go.