NH teen accused of killing sister-in-law, 2 young nephews may use insanity defense
A New Hampshire teenager accused of fatally shooting his sister-in-law and his two young nephews in 2022 may use an insanity defense at trial, according to court paperwork.
‘I’m beyond words’: NH father breaks silence after wife, 2 boys found murdered
Eric Sweeney, 17, formerly of Northfield, New Hampshire, was indicted by a Merrimack County grand jury in October on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of falsifying evidence in the Aug. 3, 2022, killings of his sister-in-law, 25-year-old Kassandra Sweeney, and his nephews, 4-year-old Benjamin Sweeney and 23-month-old Mason Sweeney, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said.
Sweeney’s defense attorney, Lauren Prusiner, filed a Notice of Insanity Defense with Merrimack Superior Court on March 1.
Prosecutors allege that Sweeney purposely shot and killed Kassandra Sweeney and his nephews, Benjamin and Mason. He is also accused of falsifying evidence, and “did alter, destroy, conceal, or remove a Taurus .40 caliber handgun, with the purpose of impairing its availability in said investigation,” said in a statement in October.
In the days before the deaths of Kassandra, Benjamin, and Mason, Kassandra’s husband, Sean Sweeney, told police he was concerned for his family’s safety, according to heavily redacted police documents.
On July 22, 2022, records show Sean Sweeney, just 12 days before his wife and children were killed, told police that he was concerned about a person at his home who was making strange comments. Sean told police that he found a weapon in the garage and more in the woods.
“Sean is worried for his toddlers safety with weapons and, the unnamed person’s behavior,” the report stated.
According to the report, a police officer spoke to the unnamed person, later identified as Eric, who was calmly sitting at a table. He allegedly said that he would change their behavior.
In a Facebook post following the death of his wife and children, Sean Sweeney wrote, “I wanted to thank everyone for the outreach and support, while things will never be ‘normal’ again my body finally shut down and let me get some sleep last night and I woke up feeling as “normal” as possible. Thank you to everyone who has spent the last few days ensuring that the random idiots online are properly informed and while I still am unable to confirm anything as to what happened and who is responsible I’m beyond words to those who just know better and are stopping my name from being dragged through the mud and for making sure the rest of the world knows that my beautiful wife was the most amazing, caring, sweetest all around good person that anyone could ever meet and just how much she loved our boys. It is our job now to keep their memories alive.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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