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Nashua man accused in drug death

By Staff | May 24, 2016

NASHUA – When Nashua police arrested alleged high-level drug dealer Kevin Manchester in late February at his Pine Street apartment, local, state and federal authorities had already begun piecing together evidence to link him to the drug death in January of a 33-year-old acquaintance.

That investigation – several months in the making – came to fruition late last week when a Hillsborough County Superior Court South grand jury indicted the 27-year-old Manchester on six counts of possessing and selling the narcotic drug fentanyl – one of which accuses him of selling the dose of fentanyl that killed Nashua resident Michelle
MacLeod.

Nashua police, members of the Attorney General’s office and agents with the New England office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced the indictment, which carries the possibility of a life sentence in state prison, on Monday afternoon, shortly after the court released the entire list of indictments from the grand jury’s May session.

Manchester is being held in jail pending his arraignment on the indictments, which is scheduled for Thursday in Hillsborough County Superior Court South.

"The Nashua Police Department has been working diligently since January to bring the dealer responsible for Michelle
MacLeod’s death to justice," Police Chief Andrew Lavoie said in a statement prepared jointly by the participating agencies.

"We have worked hand-in-hand with our federal, state and local partners on the DEA task force to stop the dealers who provide these illegal drugs to the citizens of Nashua," Lavoie added. "The successful investigation into Michelle MacLeod’s death highlights this inter-agency cooperation that is needed to attack this heroin and fentanyl epidemic."

The charge accusing Manchester of providing the fentanyl that killed MacLeod is listed on the indictment as "acts prohibited, death resulting." The narrative alleges he knowingly sold the drug to MacLeod and that it "was ingested by MacLeod, resulting in (her) death."

Another indictment alleges that Manchester allegedly sold a quantity of "a fentanyl class drug" to an undercover police agent on Jan. 23 – the day after MacLeod died.

The other indictments charge him with selling fentanyl to an undercover agent on Feb. 11, 23 and 25, and for possessing fentanyl on Feb. 26 – the day he was arrested.

At Manchester’s arraignment three days later in Nashua district court, assistant Attorney General Danielle Horgan made no mention of MacLeod’s death, telling the judge only that Manchester has a lengthy criminal record that mostly involves drug-related arrests and convictions – and that he had a habit of failing to appear in court.

Horgan also told the judge that Manchester, before his arrest, reportedly told an acquaintance that he couldn’t understand why there were so many overdoses among his "customers."

"I don’t know why people are overdosing on the stuff I’m selling," Manchester was quoted as saying to a witness.

Horgan said at that arraignment that Manchester, most recently of 104 Pine St., Apt. 1 in Nashua, admitted to authorities that "selling drugs was his sole source of income," and that he continued to sell them even while acknowledging the frequent overdoses.

"The defendant continued causing people to overdose … he is a danger to the community as well as himself," Horgan said at the time.

For his part, Manchester told the court that he is a drug addict and "obviously, these charges are really bad … I’m just an addict. If given the chance I’d get into a (substance abuse) program. I don’t want to live this life," he said.

Special DEA Agent In Charge Michael J. Ferguson said in Monday’s announcement that while people "suffering from the disease of fentanyl and heroin addiction need access to treatment and recovery … those responsible for distributing these lethal drugs … need to be held accountable for their actions."

Referring to MacLeod, Ferguson said that "anytime there is a loss of life involving a drug overdose it is a tragic event – but even more so in this case, given that the victim is a young mother."

Attorney General Joseph Foster in the announcement cited the ominous statistics surrounding the opioid epidemic.

In 2015, he said, "fentanyl was solely or partially responsible for more than 280 overdose deaths in New Hampshire.

"As of May 2, there were already 54 confirmed overdose deaths caused exclusively or partially by fentanyl and 70 overdose deaths are pending toxicology. Fentanyl is a serial killer and those who sell it to our citizens will be held responsible," Foster added.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-6443, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.

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