NH - Djeswende ‘Wendy’, 66, & Stephen Reid, 67, Shot on Hiking Trail, Concord, Apr 2022 *Logan Clegg Arrested*

[annpats]

New Hampshire's high rate of gun ownership––41.4% of adult NH residents own a firearm.

Oh my! Who'd have thought it in pretty little New England?!

If you'd have asked me, I'd have probably said it would be one of the lowest states of gun ownership.

Out of interest, how does that 41% compare with Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Oh my! Who'd have thought it in pretty little New England?!

If you'd have asked me, I'd have probably said it would be one of the lowest states of gun ownership.

Out of interest, how does that 41% compare with Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut?

Gun ownership rates are heavily dependent on the percentage of people living in urban/suburban vs. rural areas. New Hampshire is a very rural state, hence the high rate of ownership.

Per this article: In MA only 14.7% of adult residents have a gun in their house, 23.6% in Connecticut, and Vermont is even higher than New Hampshire at 50.5%.

 

[Ilex]

Gun ownership rates are heavily dependent on the percentage of people living in urban/suburban vs. rural areas. New Hampshire is a very rural state, hence the high rate of ownership.

Per this article: In MA only 14.7% of adult residents have a gun in their house, 23.6% in Connecticut, and Vermont is even higher than New Hampshire at 50.5%.

When you have coyotes, bobcats and bears in your backyard you have a gun. Which is another reason I don't believe this was a hunting accident because people around here grow up with guns we are taught how to be safe and not accidently shoot people.

 

[MassGuy]

When you have coyotes, bobcats and bears in your backyard you have a gun. Which is another reason I don't believe this was a hunting accident because people around here grow up with guns we are taught how to be safe and not accidently shoot people.

That, and you don't accidentally shoot two people multiple times.

Definitely an intentional homicide, but the question is if this was targeted or not. I just hope there's some new information this week.

 

[Ilex]

I

ITA. Definitely not random, in my opinion. This is so strange. What concerns me are the lack of pleas from the family and/or LE. No press conference. It is so odd. I feel like this may have been close to home. Figuratively and literally. All JMO.

I'm not concerned, this family is probably reeling from the tragic loss of both parents at once. It's even harder if they have an idea of who it is and it's someone they know. Or they may not know who to trust right now.

 

[Ilex]

That, and you don't accidentally shoot two people multiple times.

Definitely an intentional homicide, but the question is if this was targeted or not. I just hope there's some new information this week.

It's either someone was sitting waiting for someone to kill on the trail, which seems unlikely. Or it's someone who had an axe to grind and waited until Wende and Stephen went on their typical walk.

 

[muddlehead]

IMO people are more likely to be murdered by family/loved ones/ someone know to them than by people that don't like their lifestyle/life choices.
Hopefully we will find out soon.

More Likely. Yup. But, Ahmaud Arbery's recent murder comes to mind ...

 

[muddlehead]

I can't be the only person who is wondering if the wrong person who didn't like interracial couples saw them?

I mean, gosh. First thing I thought of.

 

[azure]

According to Apartmentguide.com, Alton Woods' rents are fairly modest: 1 Bed $1,180–$1,250, 2 Beds $1,355–$1,495. Typically when we see older people murdered by someone they know, there is a large sum of money involved. It may be that the Reids chose to live modestly and had a large sum put away, but right now I'm not seeing a financial motive. This makes a murder by someone close to them more perplexing--what could the motive be for murdering this well-loved older couple?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

According to Apartmentguide.com, Alton Woods' rents are fairly modest: 1 Bed $1,180–$1,250, 2 Beds $1,355–$1,495. Typically when we see older people murdered by someone they know, there is a large sum of money involved. It may be that the Reids chose to live modestly and had a large sum put away, but right now I'm not seeing a financial motive. This makes a murder by someone close to them more perplexing--what could the motive be for murdering this well-loved older couple?

I can’t fathom how this would be financially motivated either, honestly. They worked in international development and lived in Burkina Faso for a time, according to their daughter’s profile on her employers website, so it doesn’t sound like they would have any significant amount of wealth.

The multiple gunshot wounds suggest a deep-seated personal grudge—be it someone who was opposed to an interracial couple or someone who they had a personal issue with, but I have no idea what that might be as we know virtually nothing about them as people.

 

[realanastasia]

It's either someone was sitting waiting for someone to kill on the trail, which seems unlikely. Or it's someone who had an axe to grind and waited until Wende and Stephen went on their typical walk.

OR, and this is purely a hypothesis, perhaps there was something illicit or illegal happening in those woods (or on the deceased couple’s way to the woods) which they unfortunately happened upon, and were summarily executed as a result.

As they were an interracial couple, I wonder if they might’ve become targets for a stranger’s verbal harassment, either on the way to their hike or as they began their hike, and perhaps the situation escalated from there. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s newest report (link: U.S. White Supremacist Propaganda Remained at Historic Levels in 2021, With 27 Percent Rise in Antisemitic Messaging) all US states reported an increase in white supremacist/“white nationalist” activity in 2021, with the New England region reporting an especially dramatic jump in hate group activities.

 

[Cryptic]

OR, and this is purely a hypothesis, perhaps there was something illicit or illegal happening in those woods (or on the deceased couple’s way to the woods) which they unfortunately happened upon, and were summarily executed as a result.

Clearly possible.

The area being so close to town and well used trails would not seem conducive to large scale illegal marijuana farming. I wonder what kind of reputation the area has in regards to meth labs?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Clearly possible.

The area being so close to town and well used trails would not seem conducive to large scale illegal marijuana farming. I wonder what kind of reputation the area has in regards to meth labs?

The DEA has a database of (known) clandestine drug laboratories and in 2021 the closest one was in Campton, NH––just under 50 miles from Concord. Granted, this just includes labs known to LE, but I went through the historical data and while there were 6 total labs in Manchester between 2010 and 2016, I couldn't find any in Concord. In 2016, there was a suspected meth lab on Perley Street in downtown Concord, but that is roughly 4 miles away from the Alton Woods apartments.

 

[Yemelyan]

I wonder whether they were shot multiple times all from relatively close range, from farther away, or if some shots were farther and some occurred after approaching the bodies.

 

[katydid23]

Are there any transients that live out in that wooded area? I guess it might be too cold for that?

Here in Southern Cali, we have had some issues with people that have tents put up in the woods, and they don't always take kindly to people hiking nearby. Some of them have drug problems and/or mental problems.


Girl, 17, attacked while jogging in Culver City - ABC7
https://abc7.com › culver-city-teen-girl-attacked-jogger...

Jul 31, 2021 — Police are searching for a man who attacked a 17-year-old girl while she was jogging on a bike path in Culver City.

LAPD: Transient man attacks 2 women near West Hollywood
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Feb 15, 2022 — Two women were the victims of separate assaults at the hands of a transient man, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

 

[annpats]

Per this article: In MA only 14.7% of adult residents have a gun in their house, 23.6% in Connecticut, and Vermont is even higher than New Hampshire at 50.5%.

Thank you for that information, I appreciate you finding it.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

The family has released a statement. They sound like an amazing couple. It only makes their murder all the more baffling and heartbreaking.

Family of Concord couple in double homicide case thanks officials, describes how couple met — WMUR9
<snipped & BBM>
"The children and extended family of Steve and Djeswende (Wendy) Reid wish to express our sincere gratitude to the members of the Concord Police Department, the NH State Police, the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and NH Fish and Game for their extraordinary efforts over the last week in the investigation of the deaths of our loved ones.

"Steve served four years in the Peace Corps in West Africa right after college. He met his future wife and soulmate Wendy, who was from West Africa, while she was studying in Washington D.C. on an athletic scholarship. They bonded over their mutual love of adventure and fitness.

"Steve and Wendy had returned three years ago to his hometown of Concord to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Steve’s thirty-plus year career as an international development specialist in service to the world’s most vulnerable through USAID humanitarian projects could not have been made possible without the love, care and support of Wendy, who also helped recently-resettled refugees acclimate and thrive in the United States.

"As requested by the police, we ask for your support by providing any information that would be helpful to the ongoing investigation.

L and B Reid, and the Reid/Forey Families."

 

[annpats]

The family has released a statement. Steve and Wendy had returned three years ago to his hometown of Concord to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Steve’s thirty-plus year career as an international development specialist in service to the world’s most vulnerable through USAID humanitarian projects could not have been made possible without the love, care and support of Wendy, who also helped recently-resettled refugees acclimate and thrive in the United States."

If their deaths were targeted homicides, it must have been over something very recently, as they had only lived in the USA for the past 3 years.

I wonder if someone took exception to them helping refugees...?

<modsnip>

MOO.

 

[Ilex]

The family has released a statement. They sound like an amazing couple. It only makes their murder all the more baffling and heartbreaking.

Family of Concord couple in double homicide case thanks officials, describes how couple met — WMUR9
<snipped & BBM>
"The children and extended family of Steve and Djeswende (Wendy) Reid wish to express our sincere gratitude to the members of the Concord Police Department, the NH State Police, the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and NH Fish and Game for their extraordinary efforts over the last week in the investigation of the deaths of our loved ones.

"Steve served four years in the Peace Corps in West Africa right after college. He met his future wife and soulmate Wendy, who was from West Africa, while she was studying in Washington D.C. on an athletic scholarship. They bonded over their mutual love of adventure and fitness.

"Steve and Wendy had returned three years ago to his hometown of Concord to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Steve’s thirty-plus year career as an international development specialist in service to the world’s most vulnerable through USAID humanitarian projects could not have been made possible without the love, care and support of Wendy, who also helped recently-resettled refugees acclimate and thrive in the United States.

"As requested by the police, we ask for your support by providing any information that would be helpful to the ongoing investigation.

L and B Reid, and the Reid/Forey Families."

The City Councilor said in that same article,"And it’s very unusual that the victim of homicide doesn't know the assailant." I wonder if he's saying that to put people at ease or if he has some inside knowledge about a possible suspect.

 

[MsLGinNC]

The family has released a statement. They sound like an amazing couple. It only makes their murder all the more baffling and heartbreaking.

Family of Concord couple in double homicide case thanks officials, describes how couple met — WMUR9
<snipped & BBM>
"The children and extended family of Steve and Djeswende (Wendy) Reid wish to express our sincere gratitude to the members of the Concord Police Department, the NH State Police, the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and NH Fish and Game for their extraordinary efforts over the last week in the investigation of the deaths of our loved ones.

"Steve served four years in the Peace Corps in West Africa right after college. He met his future wife and soulmate Wendy, who was from West Africa, while she was studying in Washington D.C. on an athletic scholarship. They bonded over their mutual love of adventure and fitness.

"Steve and Wendy had returned three years ago to his hometown of Concord to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Steve’s thirty-plus year career as an international development specialist in service to the world’s most vulnerable through USAID humanitarian projects could not have been made possible without the love, care and support of Wendy, who also helped recently-resettled refugees acclimate and thrive in the United States.

"As requested by the police, we ask for your support by providing any information that would be helpful to the ongoing investigation.

L and B Reid, and the Reid/Forey Families."

Ok, so really out there notion (or maybe not), they were targeted precisely because of their work with refugees? Maybe someone thought they were about to start again, and they were vehemently and violently opposed to this?