N.H. town residents say child killer must go

[March 18, 2009]  CHICHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Angry residents of a small central New Hampshire town are demanding that authorities remove a convicted child killer from their community.

More than 200 residents of Chichester packed a town selectmen's meeting Tuesday, most of them calling for Raymond Guay's removal during about two hours of emotional testimony. Many parents said their children can't sleep and are afraid to play outside.

"I do not feel safe enough to walk to the mailbox, to allow my children to walk to the mailbox," said resident Darlene Phelps.

Guay pleaded guilty to murdering a 12-year-old Nashua boy in 1973. Police found the boy's body clad in just socks and undershorts, and glasses and a watch.

After 35 years behind bars, Guay was released in September and ordered to serve his parole in New Hampshire. Guay's release followed a failed attempt by state officials to keep him incarcerated as a dangerous sexual predator under federal law.

Guay went instead to a halfway house in Connecticut, but was returned to New Hampshire last week, where Concord residents loudly protested plans to put him there.

The Rev. David Pinckney, pastor of River of Grace Church in Concord, took Guay into his Chichester home this weekend after meeting him through a prison chaplain.

Pinckney did not attend the meeting or return calls but wrote in an open letter published Monday that Guay poses no threat and never leaves the house without adult supervision.

Authorities are advising Guay not to comment. He did not attend the meeting Tuesday.

Pinckney's wife and four of his children, ages 13 to 18, live in the house. His oldest son is away at college, and Guay has to leave in two months to make room for his return.

Pinckney has reported hearing gunshots outside his house, and one neighbor threatened to burn it down.

The selectmen voted 3-0 Tuesday to ask state and federal officials to boot Guay.

Federal parole officer Thomas Tarr said he can't legally remove Guay from Pinckney's home if he meets his probation requirements.

Tarr said two rooming houses in Concord rejected Guay last week after "inflammatory" media reports. He had to stay in a Concord hotel at a cost of $100 a day on the federal dime. Tarr would not disclose the hotel.

He told residents Tuesday that Guay has voluntarily agreed to wear a monitoring bracelet, but several parents said they doubted the bracelet would make them any safer.

Tarr conceded that while Pinckney and Guay have agreed to a 60-day time limit, authorities could not enforce that agreement. But Tarr said his office has begun scouting two or three new locations for Guay outside Chichester. He did not elaborate.

[Associated Press; By TRAVIS ANDERSEN]

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