According to a story by Gail Ober in today’s Citizen newspaper, area "leaders" and law enforcement officials knew that a real bad actor recently came to town…
[New Hampton] Selectmen have known since early May that convicted child murderer Raymond Guay is living in their community, but when they discussed the matter officially, they did so in a closed-door session.
Minutes of the May 7 selectmen’s meeting say that Police Chief Merritt "Doug" Salmon "asked selectmen to consider a nonpublic session to discuss an issue … brought to him by the U.S. Probation Office regarding the locating of an individual on probation."
According to Town Administrator Barbara Lucas, the nonpublic session was at the recommendation of town counsel.
Salmon said Wednesday he has received about 10 phone calls from concerned residents since the news of Guay’s move to New Hampton was made public. He said he could not release any information about Guay or his "host" family.
Raymond Guay’s residency in New Hampshire has been the topic of nearly constant controversy since he was released from a federal prison in September of 2008 and ordered by a California court to serve his three-year supervised release in his home state — New Hampshire, said the chief of U.S. Probation and Parole in New Hampshire Thomas Tarr.
It appears that, when you look at this man’s record, the concern is well founded. While Gail reports that the lead parole overseer in the state acknowledges has served all of his sentences in full, he
would not say he believed Guay was no longer dangerous.
The record isn’t pretty:
Guay, now 61, was in the federal system for two reasons — that he was convicted of assault in 1991 in U.S. Federal Court in California for stabbing a fellow inmate with a homemade knife and that he was in federal prison because he was a "management problem" while serving 18 to 25 years in the N.H. State Prison for killing a 12-year-old Nashua boy. Guay was convicted in 1973 of murdering the boy after he hit him in the head and shot him in the eye, leaving his partially-clad body under the snow in Hollis.
Guay also escaped from N.H. State Prison in Concord in 1982 and held an elderly couple hostage for two days, for which he was convicted of escape, kidnapping and possession of a firearm. Ten years was added to his sentence. His assault conviction earned him an additional 168 months that Tarr said were served concurrently with the rest of his sentences.
Because he never committed sex crimes, he is not required to register, but still, this isn’t someone you want in your neighborhood unbeknownst.
The story further notes that, in addition to the New Hampton police chief and selectmen, the Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin and County Attorney James Carroll knew, as well.
PHEW! At least all the important people knew which part of town to avoid at night! No need to bother the "little people" over it, though.
"To protect and serve." I’ll bet they’ll do a bang-up investigation after the next crime, though. So, sleep easy. Our government officials have things all under control! And about a possible Right-to-Know law violation, bah… who cares? No harm, no foul, right? Disgusting…