MERRIMACK – A Merrimack man with a violent past is wanted for the murder of his ex-fiancee, whose body was found in the basement of her North Andover, Massachusetts, home last week.

Brian Chevalier, 51, was arrested this week in California on parole violations, according to multiple media reports. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office released a statement Friday that it is seeking a warrant for Chevalier’s arrest in connection to the murder of Wendi Davidson.

Davidson, 49, was found in the basement of her home last weekend. It is believed she was strangled. Chevalier is described as her “ex-fiancee.”

Chevalier was released from prison in December after serving 14 years of a 10 to 30-year sentence. He was convicted in 2004 on a count of kidnapping following a trial in Cheshire County Superior Court.

Chevalier kidnapped a Jaffrey women with whom he was in a relationship and held her hostage for 21 hours. It was alleged he threatened and sexually assaulted the woman over the course of the ordeal. Chevalier claimed the sex was consensual, and the jury found him not guilty on charges of aggravated sexual assault, criminal threatening and burglary. The kidnapping charges stuck, though, and he received an enhanced penalty during sentencing due to past convictions for property crimes like theft.

Prior to that conviction, Chevalier was indicted in 1990 on five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman, according to reports from other media outlets. He allegedly choked and raped a woman on several occasions, but that case reportedly ended in a mistrial.

Damien Fisher can be reached at 594-1245 or dfisher@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DF.

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