AG report on Berlin murder calls for expanding domestic violence prevention tool statewide10/20/2025
One of the report's major recommendations focuses on the Lethality Assessment Program or LAP — a 13-question checklist police officers use when responding to domestic violence calls.
Advocates said the tool, developed nearly 20 years ago, has been proven to save lives but is only used intermittently in New Hampshire. "We are hugely supportive of that and appreciative that the attorney general recognizes this as a key safety tool," said Lyn Schollett of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. "It's also important to note that this is an evidence-based tool. Research shows that if an offender rapes the victim, strangles the victim or has firearms, the likelihood they will go on to cause serious bodily injury or even to kill someone increases dramatically." At New Beginnings in Laconia, one of 12 crisis centers in New Hampshire, advocates receive LAP calls directly from law enforcement. Executive Director Shauna Foster said the initial contact often becomes the start of a much longer relationship with survivors. WMUR October 17, 2025 Report identifies system failures in NH domestic violence case that ended in murder-suicide10/17/2025
"Reviews like this are critical to evaluate what we are doing well and what can be improved,” said Lyn Schollett of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence.
Gleason was out of jail on just $5,000 bail at the time of the shooting, accused of sexually assaulting Fuentes a couple of months earlier. Just two days prior to the shooting, Berlin Police were notified about threatening comments that Gleason had made to a friend about killing Fuentes. But according to the Attorney General’s report, the department dropped the ball following up on a welfare check. One recommendation from the report is more domestic violence training for officers. “We support more training for any professional that is responding to victims, and it is important that the training include the evidence-based research that is out there,” Schollett said. WCAX October 16, 2025 “The Coalition will be working with the legislature during the 2026 Legislative Session to mandate the use of lethality assessments by law enforcement and to establish ways for the courts to reduce the risk of homicides in domestic violence cases,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, Director of Public Affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“Only when police, prosecutors and the courts have full information about an offender’s history and access to evidenced-based lethality assessment tools, can they make informed decisions that best prioritize the safety of victims and the public,” she said. “The Coalition will continue working closely with survivors, surviving family members and state partners including the legislature to ensure that lasting change is made. Every survivor in New Hampshire deserves to be believed, supported, and protected when they reach out for help.” InDepth October 14, 2025 “It’s unfortunate that it takes a tragedy like this for us to step back and access how our systems respond but there is deep value in it,” said the Coalition’s Executive Director Lyn Schollett.
“The biggest takeaway from this report is that it shows that when police, prosecutors, and judges have two things: the offender’s full criminal history and access to evidence-based risk assessments than they can make the decision that prioritize community safety.” WMUR October 14, 2025 The report makes other recommendations about how the state can improve access to services for victims and to expand the use of lethality assessments by police to identify those prone to acts of extreme violence.
The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence praised Formella’s report for detailing how the system had failed Fuentes. “Only when police, prosecutors and the courts have full information about an offender’s history and access to evidenced-based lethality assessment tools, can they make informed decisions that best prioritize the safety of victims and the public,” said Amanda Grady Sexton, the coalition’s director of public affairs. Union Leader October 14, 2025 Police seized 24 guns before murder-suicide in Berlin, N.H., but they should have done more, AG says10/15/2025
The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence said in a statement that Fuentes Huaracha did everything society asks survivors to do in these situations. She reported the assault, sought help, and successfully persuaded a judge to issue a protective order. But the system still failed to keep her safe.
“Her story is a heartbreaking reminder that our collective response must do more to prioritize survivor safety and offender accountability at every stage of the criminal legal process,” the coalition said, in the statement released by public affairs director Amanda Grady Sexton. Boston Globe October 14, 2025 "Cases like these are, you know, very shocking and unsettling for the community. But there are things that we can do. And that is to continue talking about these issues and, you know, be aware that sexual violence can happen anywhere," said Pamela Keilig, from the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
She added that this is a chance for potential bystanders to understand what they can do, even if these situations are more rare compared to those in which the victim knows their attacker. "It's really important that communities recognize, and take action to ensure that these public spaces are safe, and that people feel supported in their communities when something like this happens," Keilig said. WMUR September 19, 2025 The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee aims to take a close look at many cases of domestic violence, such as the death of Marisol Fuentes in Berlin.
The goal is to identify areas of improvement in the hope of preventing future deaths from domestic violence. "More than half of homicides in New Hampshire are directly related to domestic violence," said Meg Chant of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. "Those cases don't just impact the direct victims, whether they're deceased or not, but also impact children, families and our whole communities.” WMUR September 3, 2025 Joi Smith, the program director at the coalition, said that having the perspective of a health care worker at the table is invaluable, explaining that when sexual assault and domestic violence occur together, it signals an extremely high-risk situation where the survivor could face a potentially fatal outcome.
“The hospital, that’s often a first point of contact for a lot of folks that are in a highly vulnerable situation,” Smith said. “It’s really imperative that every member of that team, including all of the other multidisciplinary teams, the crisis centers, the law enforcement, paramedics, that everyone is aware of how dangerous these situations are.” Concord Monitor September 2, 2025 N.H. Attorney General John Formella on Tuesday named 17 people, including Assistant Cheshire County Attorney Shanna O’Rorke, to the state’s newly established Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.
The panel, which was created this year under N.H. Senate Bill 140, will examine cases in which somebody died through domestic violence. The goal will be to determine best practices that might be employed to prevent such violence. “Fatality review committees have shown us time and again that domestic violence is preventable and that lives could be saved if systems communicated better, assessed risk more consistently, and held offenders accountable,” Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public affairs for the N.H. Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, said in a prepared statement Tuesday. Keene Sentinel September 2, 2025 |
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The 12 member programs of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence provide services to all victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking, stalking, and child abuse.
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New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
PO Box 353, Concord, NH 03302-0353
(603) 224-8893
New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
PO Box 353, Concord, NH 03302-0353
(603) 224-8893
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