Double-murder trial

DOVER — Timothy Verrill isn’t the man who most wanted Christine Sullivan and Jenna Pellegrini dead, and the state didn’t properly test key evidence that could’ve linked another man to their 2017 murders in Farmington, Verrill’s defense team claimed during its opening arguments Tuesday.

Tuesday marked the start of arguments and testimony in Verrill’s double murder trial in Strafford County Superior Court. As anticipated, the day included many points in which the defense attempted to discredit evidence and build its case around an alternative suspect, while the state argued the evidence squarely indicates it was Verrill who “brutally murdered” Sullivan, 48, and Pellegrini, 32.

"They’ll ask you to speculate," Assistant Attorney General Jesse O’Neill, one of three attorneys prosecuting the case, claimed in his opening argument. "They’ll even give you a boogeyman. They might even give you a name… There is no boogeyman.”

Defense attorney Julia Nye fired back in her opening argument that Verrill “is not guilty,” claiming the evidence collected and the manner in which it was collected cannot prove Verrill’s culpability beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The killer is not Tim,” Nye argued.

Verrill, 37, of Dover, is standing trial on two first-degree murder counts and five falsifying physical evidence counts.

He is accused of stabbing and beating to death Sullivan and Pellegrini inside 979 Meaderboro Road in Farmington in the early morning hours of Jan. 27, 2017, before he allegedly hid their bodies under the home’s porch and attempted to hide or destroy other evidence. Sullivan was a resident of the home at the time, while Pellegrini was a friend of Sullivan’s who was staying in a separate bedroom within the home, authorities have said.

Throughout Nye’s opening argument and during the defense’s cross examination of the state’s witnesses Tuesday, Nye and co-counsel Meredith Lugo built their case that 979 Meaderboro Road owner Dean Smoronk hired someone to kill Sullivan and Pellegrini.

Smoronk was the boyfriend of Sullivan, and he was charged with allegedly running the drug trafficking enterprise in which Verrill and Sullivan were both employed. Smoronk recently pleaded guilty in a federal drug case and is listed on both the state and defense’s potential witness lists for Verrill’s trial.

“Christine was murdered because somebody — not Tim — wanted to take more control of the drug business,” Nye claimed in her opening argument. “Dean Smoronk was that somebody.”

Nye keyed in on several pieces of evidence during her opening argument, including a white trucker hat Verrill often wore.

The hat, which Verrill was seen wearing in 979 Meaderboro Road’s security camera footage on the day of Sullivan and Pellegrini’s deaths, was found near the women’s bodies. Authorities found Verrill’s DNA on the hat, blood belonging to Sullivan on the hat’s exterior and the DNA of an unidentified man on the inside brow band, Nye said.

Nye claimed to jurors that authorities allegedly didn’t test that unidentified man’s DNA against the DNA of Smoronk or any other men who were at the home the weekend the murders occurred. Nye also argued the location of the hat "was strange,” as was the fact that Smoronk asked Verrill go to 979 Meaderboro Road to check in on Sullivan after Smoronk couldn’t reach her on Jan. 27, 2017.

Nye argued these things appear to “set Tim up as a fall guy" and squarely embroil him in the investigation.

An unidentified man’s blood was also found on the ceiling in one of the home’s rooms, and an unidentified man’s DNA was also found under Sullivan’s fingernails, Nye claimed during the defense’s opening argument.

Nye also read text messages Smoronk sent Sullivan in an attempt to demonstrate “the hatred and disgust Dean had toward Christine was palpable.” In one of those texts, Nye said Smoronk told Sullivan he would cut her “right to the bone because you are a self-centered piece of [expletive].”

Prosecutors didn’t directly outline any potential motives for Sullivan and Pellegrini’s deaths Tuesday. However, O’Neill did outline various evidence he said will illustrate Smoronk wasn’t connected. That includes airport video surveillance footage and cell phone records the state showed to illustrate Smoronk was in Florida at the time of the murders.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Pete Hinckley also showed various text messages while he questioned the state’s first witness, a Florida resident and former girlfriend of Smoronk’s named Vanessa Mango.

In the texts, Smoronk expressed concern about Sullivan to multiple people after he couldn’t reach her on Jan. 27, 2017. In other texts, Smoronk wrote, “I’m going to pay you and push you out of my life,” and begged Sullivan to leave the home before March 2017 because he couldn’t “deal” with her sporadic communication.

Mango testified during the defense’s cross-examination that Smoronk, whom she dated at the same time Sullivan did, “was a lot to handle,” could be “quite demanding” and often fought with Sullivan. Neither the state nor defense asked Mango any questions relative to whether or not she believed Smoronk was involved in Sullivan’s death.

Mango was one of three people who testified Tuesday. The state also called Tracy Flaherty, a State Police intelligence analyst and phone records expert, and Matt Embrey, a Farmington Police Department lieutenant who was involved in the investigation. Flaherty and Embrey testified about Smoronk’s phone records and Smoronk’s interview with authorities during the investigation, respectively.

Tuesday’s focus on Smoronk came as the state presented arguments and evidence, including 979 Meaderboro Road’s surveillance footage, to demonstrate Verrill was the only man present at the home at the time of the murders. The video, the state alleged, showed Verrill obscuring cameras in the home, locking the home’s door and walking over to the camera system’s control module immediately before the footage goes dead. The state alleged all of this occurred moments before Sullivan and Pellegrini were killed.

Multiple relatives and friends of Sullivan and Pellegrini cried and held their hands to their mouths as O’Neill described in detail the manner of their deaths. O’Neill alleged Verrill repeatedly beat and stabbed Sullivan first before doing the same to a sleeping Pellegrini in a separate room. O’Neill said both women suffered as they were being murdered.

Family members also cried and gasped as O’Neill made public for the first time images of the crime scene and the area in which Verrill allegedly hid their bodies. O’Neill said Verrill allegedly “discarded them like trash” before “piling junk on top of them” to hide their bodies on the porch.

The state also presented evidence Verrill allegedly concealed blood and clothing evidence, altered portions of the crime scene, and was the only man who allegedly demonstrated guilt through his actions in the days following Sullivan and Pellegrini’s deaths.

“In the following days, the defendant continued to act like someone who had committed a life-altering act,” O’Neill argued, outlining shopping trips, alleged lies Verrill told friends, allegedly abnormal behavior and Verrill’s alleged efforts to elude police before they could question him for the first time. Verrill wasn’t arrested until 10 days after the murders, on Feb. 6, 2017.

Verrill, wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt with a light checkered pattern tucked into black pants, a black belt and black shoes, viewed the imagery as O’Neill showed it. Verrill watched Nye as Nye gave the defense’s opening argument.

During a bail hearing for Verrill in August 2017, State Police Sgt. Brian Strong testified evidence indicates Verrill allegedly killed Sullivan and Pellegrini because he believed one of them to be a police informant. While prosecutors didn’t outline any potential motives during their opening arguments or while questioning witnesses Tuesday, they did refer to Verrill’s drug use and state of mind around the time of the murders.

People around Verrill said, according to prosecutors, that Verrill “started to behave strangely” in January 2017. O’Neill said in his opening argument that Verrill was a user of cocaine, crystal meth and other drugs, and that people around him noted he was “anxious, frantic and emotional,” had “extreme paranoia” and was “not sure what was going on around him.”

Verrill’s mother brought him to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for treatment in the days between the victims’ deaths and Verrill’s arrest. The defense argued they sought drug treatment. The state has argued in previous proceedings and motions that the hospital visit was due to the emotional distress Verrill was experiencing over the murders.

Nye acknowledged Verrill’s substance use in her opening argument. In doing so, she also argued Verrill’s sales and actions within the drug trafficking enterprise were not “reliable,” that he was “lazy,” and that he had no interest in being an enforcer or collecting debts for Smoronk.

Going further, Nye argued Verrill wouldn’t be someone Smoronk would trust if Smoronk were allegedly interested in hiring someone to kill Sullivan. She posited that one of the state’s key witnesses, a man named Josh Colwell, more closely fit that bill. Colwell was an associate of Smoronk’s and was the first person Verrill visited after Verrill allegedly murdered Sullivan and Pellegrini, according to the state.

Nye argued Colwell had contact with Smoronk before the murders occurred and that part of their communications occurred over an encrypted messaging application that prevented authorities or the attorneys from obtaining records of the messages. Nye argued their use of the encrypted app that day was odd, given that the Colwell and Smoronk freely discussed their drug business in regular text messages, referring to their illegal activity as a “snowplowing” business to code the messages.

“So, we have no idea what they talked about,” Nye argued, “but we do know it wasn’t about drugs because they already had this snowplow (code)… (You) shouldn’t have to use (an encrypted app) to say you’re so concerned about your house or your girlfriend.”

The state is expected to call additional witnesses when Verrill’s trial resumes Wednesday. Prosecutors said outside the courtroom Tuesday afternoon they couldn’t disclose who they might call to the stand.

Verrill has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

The trial is expected to take as long as four to six weeks.