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.
Tarr said Guay is no longer wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet — an initial special condition to which Guay agreed for the first six months of his three-year supervised released.
"I can tell you he is being closely monitored both in person and by other means," said Tarr.
"His only restriction is that he cannot leave New Hampshire," said Tarr who added his department has to be notified if there is any change in Guay's living situation and there are other conditions, including contact with children or other convicted felons. "He can live any place in the state he wants."
He is also subject to the typical prohibitions against alcohol, drugs and firearms. Tarr said Guay works for his host family and owns a car.
Tarr said 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.
After his September release, Guay went to a half-way house in Manchester but was briefly relocated out of the state after the hue and cry that brought Gov. John Lynch, Mayor Frank Guinta and Attorney General Kelly Ayotte to join those who demanded his relocation.
In March of 2009, Guay relocated Chichester home of the Rev. David Pinckney who, at the time, told the Concord Monitor he believed Guay's conversion to Christianity was genuine. According to Tarr, his stay in Chichester, other than the public outcry, was uneventful.
Guay's move to New Hampshire and relocation to Chichester prompted Ayotte to write letters to Tarr saying she opposed his presence in New Hampshire — in one case writing that Guay was "a significant danger to society and threat to New Hampshire citizens" and in the other that "it is clear that he has a significant and dangerous criminal history."
"He has served all of his sentences in full," said Tarr who would not say he believed Guay was no longer dangerous.
As to registering as a sex offender, Guay was never convicted of a sex crime and is not required to register.
Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin and County Attorney James Carroll said they were both notified of Guay's move to Belknap County.
Carroll said he agreed that Salmon was under no legal requirement to notify to community or disclose Guay's whereabouts but did question the selectmen's use of the nonpublic session to discuss the matter.
"I'm not clear on their use of [RSA] 91A," said Carroll referring to the law that protects the public's right to know unless certain conditions are met.
Minutes of the May 7 meeting said, "The selectmen discussed and reviewed the statute 91-A: 3 (c) relative to a person's reputation."
"I believe the selectmen were morally obligated to inform the residents," said state Rep. Francine Wendelboe, R-New Hampton, who is with the Belknap County Delegation that is scheduled to meet with the Board tonight. "As to his relocation, I do believe their hands were tied."
Selectman Paul Tierney said, "there are two sides to every story" but said he could not comment further. Selectmen Kenneth Mertz and Charles Bartley could not be reached.
Mertz was not a selectman on May 7 when the Board held its nonpublic session.
The New Hampton Selectmen's meeting begins at 6 p.m. and is in Town Hall.
