CONCORD — Executive councilor John Stephen called it a “catastrophic failure” in the state’s system of notifications and bail.
He was alluding to a July 6 domestic violence murder-suicide in Berlin at a meeting with judicial and public safety officials in Concord Thursday.
Executive Councilors Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, and Stephen, R-Manchester, asked for the meeting with Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn, Attorney General John Formella and Superior Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald.
The wanted to go over the gaps in communications systems among various police departments, courts and domestic violence victims that led to the tragedy, and whether more money and legislation is needed to protect people.
There are several other probes now underway in the murder of Marisol Fuentes Huaracha by her husband Michael Gleason Jr., who then killed himself July 6.
In a letter asking for the meeting July 17, the two councilors wrote that “while we recognize that the internal and external reviews are currently underway, we believe this discussion will provide valuable opportunities to explore additional measures for strengthening that protect our communities and ensure that law enforcement, courts and other stakeholders possess the necessary resources to respond effectively and decisively.”
The agency officials said there are current measures underway to help bridge gaps and others may be contemplated in the future, but they would likely require more staff and resources which would need to be approved by the legislature.
They held the first portion of their meeting in public in the Executive Council chambers and then went into executive session to privately discuss the specifics of the case that brought them to the table.
One issue is whether “real time” data could have saved 25-year-old Marisol Fuentes Huaracha, who was shot and killed by her husband, Michael Gleason Jr., 50, at her place of work, La Casita Mexican Restaurant, before he took his own life.
Authorities believe he acted in violation of a restraining order while out on bail.
Fuentes Huaracha had reported to authorities that Gleason sexually assaulted her and robbed her April 25 and she also obtained a restraining order, yet Gleason was released on $5,000 bail.
It was clarified at the meeting by Ellen V. Christo, administrative judge of the NH Circuit Courts, that it was not Fuentes, but her husband Gleason who had filed for divorce.
Days before the murder/suicide, a second woman asked for a restraining order against Gleason under civil law.
Councilor Kenney said he wondered about notification to the victim in such matters; why that second restraining order did not prompt the magistrate to hold a hearing to reconsider the bail order; if she even knew about it; and whether that second restraining order would be considered by the courts as an elevated concern for public safety.
He also asked about record-keeping in such matters and a lack of a paper trail.
“The court system basically gave a bail amount that should not have happened,” Kenney said.
He said when 50 percent of all murders in New Hampshire are related to domestic violence, the state has to work harder on prevention and ensuring the system protects people.
A new law just passed as part of Senate Bill 140 will create a review committee for such domestic violence matters and Kenney said he wants to make Fuentes Huaracha “the face of that committee.”
Councilor Stephen said the “system failed” Fuentes Huaracha and the case screams for responsiveness.
“This is a deep, global issue of violence that affects…people in New Hampshire each and every day and the system cannot fail,” he said.
Stephen said the goal of the meeting was to have a collaborative discussion and to begin to work on concrete solutions to prevent future tragedies “to save lives when possible.”
MacDonald noted there are about 36,000 bail orders issued each year, and that the state’s bail system is “firmly rooted in the 18th century. We are a paper-based system.”
Bail is often decided by bail commissioners who work 24/7 and there may be connectivity issues and technology that is not yet compatible, MacDonald said.
Kenney asked why some of the more than $1 billion in post COVID-19 federal funds were not used to create that system.
“I’m feeling like we are back in the dark ages,” said Stephen. “Why aren’t we connected like the hospital systems” in terms of data sharing?
This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.