Photo by WCVB Lindsay Smith, 33, critically injured in an attempted murder-suicide in Salem, Massachusetts. (Photo by WCVB)

CONCORD — As 33-year-old Lindsay Smith, who was shot in the head and critically wounded by her ex-boyfriend this week in Massachusetts, continues to show “positive signs” of recovery, according to a co-worker, state judicial officials have announced they have opened an internal review of her domestic violence case and are forming a task force to conduct a systemic review of domestic violence cases in the system.

Smith, of Hampton, was shot in the head Monday evening by Richard Lorman, 55, a Wilton resident said to be Smith’s ex-boyfriend, as she left work for the day at Doyle Sailmakers on Technology Way in Salem, Massachusetts.

Police have told media outlets that Lorman, who shot and killed himself after wounding Smith, was waiting outside the business for her. Responding police and medical personnel found the two lying on the ground near the building.

Smith was rushed to Salem Hospital, then transferred to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

Robbie Doyle, the owner of Doyle Sailmakers, told NBC10 news Thursday that Smith “is doing miraculously well and all her vital signs are good.

“Her prognosis is quite good,” Doyle told NBC10, adding that Smith has full movement on her right side and feeling on her left.

“So far, everything is improving daily.”

In New Hampshire, meanwhile, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald is calling for the internal review of Smith and Lorman’s domestic violence case after Smith, who was initially granted a temporary restraining order against Lorman in September, was denied her request in October to extend the order, telling the court that Lorman had been threatening her, members of her family and other acquaintances.

But Rockingham County family court Judge Polly Hall denied Smith’s request and dismissed the petition, citing, according to a WMUR-TV report, “no credible present threat.”

Court documents cited by NBC10 in its reporting included some of the threats Lorman allegedly made. He reportedly told Smith “I will make you pay … you can’t trust anything to be okay anymore.

“I am going to turn your world upside down. You’ll see. You’ll pay.

“You chose this.”

As for the internal review ordered by MacDonald, it will be led by circuit court Judge Susan B. Carbon, a “nationally recognized expert on domestic violence” and a “former director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women,” according to Susan Warner, the communications manager for the state judicial branch.

Officials anticipate the review will be completed by next week, Warner said, adding that once the findings are submitted to the Supreme Court, they will be made public.

The purpose of the formation of the “multidisciplinary task force,” meanwhile, is to “conduct a systemic review of domestic violence cases in the court system,” according to Warner.

State Supreme Court Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi will chair the task force, Warner said.

Members will include “a broad range of domestic

violence stakeholders,” including the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, defense counsel, and others.

The task force will seek assistance from national court consultants with expertise in domestic and sexual violence, according to Warner.

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

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