MERRIMACK – Court filings provide several new details about the April 30 homicide of Darlene Lawrence, including the fact that she was apparently scheduled to move out the very day police responded to the house at 86 Back River Road in Merrimack.

The new information is contained in a defense motion to suppress Joseph Lawrence’s statements to police. The documents, filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua, give the following account of events surrounding the case:

Police were called to the Lawrence’s home on the morning of April 30 by Joseph Lawrence and shown Darlene Lawrence’s body in a bedroom. While police were investigating, a man named Michael Peaslee pulled up to the home in a U-Haul van. Peaslee identified himself to police as Darlene Lawrence’s boyfriend and said the pair had plans for him to help her move out of the Merrimack home that morning to an apartment in Rochester. Merrimack Detective Christopher Spillane spoke with Peaslee, who police described as "very angry and insisted that Joseph Lawrence had killed Darlene Lawrence."

Joseph Lawrence told police later in the day he had tried to talk with his wife about their relationship and that Darlene Lawrence disclosed another relationship. Joseph Lawrence said he "snapped" and admitted to shooting Darlene Lawrence in the neck with a .38 caliber revolver, according to court records.

It is those statements that Joseph Lawrence’s attorney, Justin Shepherd, wants a judge to throw out. The statements weren’t voluntary and neither was Joseph Lawrence’s waiver of his Miranda rights, Shepherd argued in a motion to suppress, because of his "physical and mental condition." Police noted that Joseph Lawrence appeared to be sick, had trouble breathing and appeared to be nauseous, though they did not have him medically evaluated, Shepherd said.

Joseph Lawrence was also questioned at his home – essentially a custodial interrogation – without being read his Miranda rights, according to Shepherd’s motion.

Joseph Lawrence, 62, is charged with two alternate counts of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Darlene Lawrence, 61, and has been jailed since his arrest in early May.

Officers Sean McGuire, Sgt. Eric Marquis and Lt. Daniel Edmonds of the Merrimack Police Department were among the first responders to the home shortly before 6:30 a.m.

Marquis was waved into the residence by Joseph Lawrence, who directed the officer to the scene of the crime. According to police reports, Lawrence direct Marquis to the "first bedroom on the left" where Marquis observed that Darlene Lawrence was "clearly deceased," and a black revolver was 4 to 6 feet away from her body.

According to Marquis’s report, "I exited the room and located Joseph Lawrence in the kitchen area. He was seemingly going into shock as he was pacing back and forth; having trouble breathing and advising that he was going to be sick."

Lawrence initially told to Marquis that he and his wife argued, his wife brandished the gun, which they then struggled over, then Lawrence told police "I heard a loud bang" and "I didn’t know what happened." Police noted Lawrence had blood on his hands and clothing.

After Peaslee made his appearance at the home, police also contacted Darlene Lawrence’s sister, Dianne Paladino, who told police Darlene Lawrence "knew he was going to kill her," according to Shepherd’s motion.

State Troopers Nathan Zipf and William Bright arrived at the Merrimack Police Department and were advised that Lawrence was sitting quietly in an interview room waiting to be spoken to about the events surrounding the death of his wife.

Bright and Zipf spoke to Lawrence at 10:51 a.m. in the interview room. Zipf read Lawrence his Miranda rights and Lawrence was provided a copy of the form to read along. He then waived his Miranda rights and provided a recorded statement to Zipf.

Merrimack detective Scott Park then interviewed Lawrence, who reportedly confessed to shooting his wife.

"I asked Joe how many times he shot his wife, and he balked for a brief second and told me he shot her right in the neck area, and he did this by holding out his arm as if he had the gun in his hand," Park stated in his report, according to court documents. He continued, "Joe told me he had cocked the hammer back to the single action position, and raised up and told her that she looked nice in her suit, and squeezed the trigger and he stated he just heard the sound and saw the flash."

However, according to Zipf, "(State Police Sgt. John) Sonia advised me that I needed to tell Joseph Lawrence that nothing he said to Detective Park could be used against him and that I needed to read him his Miranda rights again before speaking with him further."

Park and Zipf spoke with Lawrence again at 9:29 p.m., and explained his previous statement to Park could not be used against him. Zipf read his rights again, and Lawrence agreed to waive them and continue answering questions, according to court records.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-6402, tforbes@nashuatelegraph. com or @Telegraph_TinaF.