Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Police officers and detectives collect evidence in the cordoned-off section of Valley Street Cemetery following last week's reported series of sexual assaults. The suspect, Amuri Diole, faces several felony charges. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

MANCHESTER – Found incompetent in February 2020 to stand trial on charges accusing him of beating up a Merrimack man and taking his phone in 2017, Manchester resident Amuri Diole is now back in jail following his arrest in last week’s violent, prolonged sexual assault of a woman in a Manchester cemetery.

In January, nearly a year after Hillsborough County Superior Court South Judge Charles Temple ruled Diole incompetent to stand trial, another judge ruled Diole “not restorable,” meaning that it was the court’s opinion that he could not be restored to competency to a level necessary to participate in court proceedings and assist his attorneys in his defense.

But because the courts deemed Diole dangerous, he was ordered held in jail for 90 days to give the state time to arrange for him to be involuntarily committed to the state’s Secure Psychiatric Unit.

That commitment order, however, never materialized, paving the way for Diole’s release from jail upon the expiration of the 90-day hold.

Diole was subsequently released on April 23. But last Thursday, just six days after his release, Diole was back in jail, facing five felony charges accusing him of assaulting and raping a woman over the course of two hours, according to police.

Amuri Diole, 27, of Manchester; listed as homeless

The charges include three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault – use of force or violence, which are special felonies; and two counts of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, Class B felonies.

The series of alleged assaults took place in the Valley Street cemetery, a large, inner-city cemetery a block east of Elm Street and bordered by Valley, Pine, Willow and Auburn streets.

The woman told police the suspect at one point held a knife to her neck and threatened to kill her, and also allegedly pushed her head into a granite monument, causing her to briefly lose consciousness, according to reports.

She was eventually able to get to her purse, pull out her phone and call 911, apparently while trying to flee from the suspect, who reportedly caught up to her and allegedly assaulted her again.

Diole has reportedly been staying at the New Horizons shelter, several blocks north of the cemetery, but he is also listed as homeless. He may have been living in the cemetery, where homeless folks are known to camp out.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A Manchester police detective views the area Valley Street Cemetery where a woman was reportedly sexually assaulted last Thursday. A suspect is in custody. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

In the Merrimack case, Diole was one of two men arrested on charges stemming from an argument with a Merrimack homeowner that became physical, police said at the time.

The charges – one count each of second-degree assault and falsifying physical evidence, both Class B felonies – accuse Diole of punching the homeowner and breaking hise nose, then grabbing the man’s cell phone and deleting the recording the man made of the confrontation.

Diole and the other man, who were working for a temp agency at the time, were assigned to a job at the man’s residence.

But the alleged victim wasn’t satisfied with their work, so he essentially fired them and told them to leave his property, according to reports at the time.

When the two allegedly didn’t leave right away, the man began recording them, which a prosecutor said sparked the confrontation.

Aside from the Manchester and Merrimack cases, Diole has others on file going back to 2014, according to court records. They include a 2016 arrest for robbery and probation violation, for which he ended up receiving a suspended sentence; a 2017 drug case in which the charge was later dropped; and a 2014 case in which he was charged with two counts of burglary and one count of simple assault.

In that case, the burglary charges were eventually dropped, and Diole pleaded guilty to the assault charge in exchange for a suspended sentence.

He also has been charged with a handful of failure-to-appear-in-court offenses, the records state.

Diole is next due in court for an evidentiary hearing in the Manchester case at 8 a.m. May 17.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.