Chief says police not told about weapon
By STAFF REPORT
Monday, Oct. 26, 2009
MANCHESTER – Police Chief David Mara said his officers had no reason to search the home of a Manchester man for weapons after he was arrested on the street last week for allegedly assaulting his wife.
“At no time did he mention any weapons to the arresting officers,” Mara said Saturday. “She never mentioned he had any weapons.”
Mara said Jonathan Charbonneau the following day shot and killed his wife, Melissa, with a hunting rifle.
Bail conditions on his assault charge prohibited him from having possession of any firearms.
In the hours leading up to the murder, Jonathan Charbonneau was served twice with papers that required the confiscation of any weapon. One paper, a domestic violence petition delivered by a deputy sheriff, barred him from possessing any gun. It also specified that Charbonneau kept his hunting rifle in the closet at 223 Jewett St.
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The protective order was served either Wednesday or Thursday morning by a Hillsborough County sheriff deputy.
“I’m not trying to cast any aspersions on the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department,” Mara said. “I don’t know what transpired.”
Hillsborough County Sheriff James Hardy on Friday suggested that any weapons in Charbonneau’s possession should have been removed under bail and protective order conditions prior to his agency entering the picture.
“That is not a Manchester police matter,” Mara said.
Hardy didn’t return phone messages left at his home and the department over the weekend.
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