Day 15 in jail for River Dave, 81, who won't leave home of 27 years
Jul. 28—"River Dave," a well-known squatter who has lived beside the Merrimack River for 27 years, goes before a Superior Court judge Wednesday with a chance at freedom — if he agrees to abandon the place he calls home.
David Earl Lidstone, 81, has been jailed since July 15 for refusing to vacate the wood-plank cabin he built in Canterbury near the Merrimack River.
His incarceration on a contempt ruling is the latest development in a five-year court battle launched by the property's owner, who wants the hermit-like Lidstone off his 73-acre woodlot.
Lidstone lives in a cabin that is powered by solar panels and serviced by spring-fed water, according to a 2018 profile on WMUR-TV's "New Hampshire Chronicle." At the time, Lidstone had been living on the property for 24 years.
Mobile and healthy, he grows vegetables, tends a beehive, raises chickens and has a cat. He's on Social Security, has a cell phone and receives mail in a box at 3 Oxbow Road. He often greets paddlers on the Merrimack River.
"This is my lifestyle. This is where I'm at home," he told WMUR.
But in January 2017, a judge issued a permanent injunction and ordered Lidstone off the property.
He's been in and out of court since. When he appeared in Merrimack County Superior Court on July 15, Lidstone said he would violate the judge's order and resume living on the property.
Superior Court Judge Andrew Schulman ordered him jailed on contempt.
"It is not acceptable for an 81-year-old man to remain in jail in a civil case. However, the defendant angrily rejected the court's efforts to connect him with services," Schulman wrote the following day.
Five days later, Lidstone went before the judge and refused again, saying he would either live on the property or live in jail.
Any time that Lidstone agrees to stay away from the property, he will be freed, Schulman wrote.
In an interview, the owner of the property — South Burlington, Vt., resident Leonard Giles — said he wants Lidstone off the property.
"I think he's delusional," said Giles, the retired owner of a general store.
He didn't express sympathy for an 81-year-old in jail. "I'm 85, and I'm not in jail," Giles said via telephone.
Giles said he never knew about the cabin or Lidstone's use of the land until contacted by the town of Canterbury.
"The town of Canterbury says that I have a home there, and they're going to tax me for a home," Giles said. He said he's not going to pay taxes for a home he doesn't use.
Efforts to reach Canterbury town administrator Kenneth Folsom and Selectmen Chair Cheryl Gordon were unsuccessful.
The court hearing Wednesday is expected to be brief. Lidstone isn't expected to appear in person. He is scheduled for a video hearing, which involves a feed from the Merrimack County jail into the courtroom.
Schulman has written that he won't hold Lidstone for more than 30 days. He also said he will release Lidstone once Giles has the cabin torn down.
But Schulman recognizes that the cabin is located a mile into the woods, that heavy equipment is necessary to do the job, and contractors are overbooked. The judge wrote that Lidstone's animals are being cared for.
Lidstone has claimed that the previous owner of the property promised he could live there until he dies. But Lidstone has nothing in writing, and a judge has ruled against that claim and said Lidstone has no adverse possession rights.
The cabin also violates town ordinances, Schulman wrote.
Lidstone appears eligible for Veterans Administration help but has refused it and won't provide any alternatives.
"It is impossible to reason with defendant who unleashed a barrage of profanity," Schulman wrote on July 15. The judge said he will not issue a criminal contempt order against Lidstone.
