Local manhunt ends with arrest
Published on September 3rd, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - A troubled 17 year-old, who shuttled between divorced parents in Melrose and Milford, N.H., was arrested in Stoneham last week, and questioned by New Hampshire authorities in connection with the discovery of his father's grossly decomposed dead body in their Milford, N.H. residence last Wednesday night.
"The final autopsy is still being completed as we speak, but after preliminary results we are ruling this death a homicide," said New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General for the Homicide Division Brian Quirk at a press conference outside Woburn District Court following Herlihy's arraignment. "It appears that the body was in the residence for a period of time, and the medical examiner is having difficulty identifying the body."
The New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Brian Quirk did confirm on Saturday, August 30 that the recovered body was that of Paul Herlihy.
"Dr. Thomas Andrew, the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of New Hampshire, positively identified the victim as Paul Herlihy," said
Quirk would not comment on how the murder was committed, or any weapons involved.
"The cause of death has been determined, however the Attorney General's Office is not releasing the cause of death to the general public at this stage due to the ongoing criminal investigation," said Quirk, who also asked that people with any information forward it to the New Hampshire State Police or the Milford Police.
"Mr. Herlihy is not a murder suspect at this time," said Quirk, who wouldn't comment on any information gleaned during nearly four hours of questioning at the Stoneham Police Station prior to the arraignment. "There was a dead body found in his residence, and he was simply wanted for questioning."
Herlihy's attorney, Michael Natola, first verified that authorities believed the body was 51 year-old Paul Herlihy, a former antiques dealer in Melrose.
Milford Police discovered Herlihy's dead body in his Milford residence at approximately 7 p.m. on Wednesday night after a concerned neighbor called "about his well-being", according to New Hampshire State Police Crime Unit spokesmen Russ Conti.
"I had to tell Doug at the Stoneham Police station that authorities believe his father was dead...they believe it was suspicious, and that they want to question him about the death," said Natola, who stated that his client was "in shock" about the entire incident, and began to "break down and cry" upon learning of his father's murder. "He (Herlihy) has no idea why they wanted to question him about his father's death. He told me that he has absolutely nothing to do with his father's death."
Herlihy was arrested in Stoneham, and arraigned at Woburn District Court for a series of vehicular charges stemming from an early morning car chase on Thursday, August 28. Herlihy is being levied with Stoneham charges of receiving stolen property over $250, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless endangerment, and failure to stop for a police officer. Herlihy is being held on $15,000 cash bail in the Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge, according to Middlesex Sheriff's Department spokesmen Mark Lawhorne.
Woburn District Court Judge Jonathan Brant also revoked Herlihy's bail from Lynn District Court on Aug. 12 Saugus charges of alleged possession of magic mushrooms, marijuana and a double-edged knife
Natola attempted to argue that anything involving New Hampshire shouldn't have a bearing on arraignment in Woburn, and Natola "didn't think his client would be able to post the $15,000 cash bail.
Stoneham Police, along with members of the Woburn, Reading, Wakefield and State Police squads, apprehended Herlihy at 9:50 a.m. on Thursday after a six-hour manhunt through the woods in the north end of Stoneham.
Stoneham Police twice stopped Douglas F. Herlihy, age 17, of 425 Nashua Street, Milford, first on the Lynn Fells Parkway and then on Montvale Ave. during the early morning hours of Thursday. Herlihy, driving his dead father's Lincoln, sped off from Stoneham authorities during the second traffic stop, ditched the car on Interstate-93 North, and scrambled into the woods at approximately 3:05 a.m.
Herlihy, according to Middlesex District Attorney Jonathan Jagher, had spots of blood on his jeans when pulled over and questioned by Stoneham Police. Herlihy told police that the specks of blood were from a cut on his right index finger he incurred while working on his car.
According to Natola, Herlihy sped off from Montvale Ave. when Stoneham Police spooked the teen by drawing their guns.
"He saw officers approaching the car with semi-automatic guns drawn, and he was scared," said Natola of the soon-to-be 18 year-old set to enter the 10th grade of a special needs school in Chelsea. "So he abandoned the car, and ran off into the woods."
During the next six hours, the shirtless teenager was spotted by several eyewitnesses alternately crouching behind fences and sheds, and running and waving his arms in the normally tranquil, suburban neighborhood.
Stoneham Police Det. Paul Norden, patrolling the area when a Janice Lane resident spotted Herlihy, attempted to corner the suspect with off-duty Cambridge cop and Hanford Road resident Lou Neal.
Herlihy managed to elude captors, but Stoneham Police called in back-up units from several surrounding communities.
Once the suspect was spotted, a phalanx of local police flooded the area and formed a perimeter around the hidden suspect.
Norton, along with Reading Police officer Mike Fitzgerald, came across Herlihy hiding behind a backyard shed on Hanford Road, and quickly apprehended the elusive teen.
"We were waiting for the K-9 unit to return, we spotted the suspect standing behind a shed," said Norton. "He was staring back off into the woods. We drew our guns, approached him...and took him down."
According to Norton, there was no weapon found at the time of Herlihy's arrest.
"He had nothing on him," said Norton.
Within the last year, there had been 25 domestic disturbance calls to Melrose Police from Herlihy's mothers' residence in Melrose, according to Jagher.
Herlihy's mother, Patricia Linguidi of Melrose, declined to comment at Woburn District Court.
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