Mont Vernon murder unsettles small community
Staff photo by Don Himsel Police officers were still at the scene of Mont Vernon's homicide Monday afternoon, October 5, 2009.
Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Family friends and well-wishers fill the town's fire station as they gather for a candlelight vigil to honor and pray for the Cates family Wednesday evening, October 7, 2009. The vigil started at the Mont Vernon Village School and proceeded to the town's fire station, where notes were written in a guest book for the family and children wrote messages with crayons on banners.
Staff photo by Don Himsel Police officers were still at the scene of Mont Vernon's homicide Monday afternoon, October 5, 2009.
MONT VERNON – The events of Sunday morning, Oct. 4, combined with the aftershock two days later when four local young men were arrested and charged with perpetrating the crime, created the biggest news story to come out of town in many decades.
Today, the four men – Steven Spader and Christopher Gribble, of Brookline, and Quinn Glover and William Marks, of Amherst, along with Hollis resident Autumn Savoy, who was arrested Nov. 18 – remain jailed as suspects in the Trow Road home invasion and murder of Kimberly Cates, 42, and the assault on her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie.
Although many details have yet to be released about the crime, police say the four chose the home at random because it was isolated on a short dirt road. The father, David Cates, was away on business at the time.
The weeks following the murder were filled with vigils, remembrance gatherings and many tales of people coming together to comfort one another, organize fundraisers and special projects for David and Jaimie Cates, and honor and thank the efforts of police and medical rescue personnel who raced to the home that morning. Jaimie has since returned to school.
Shortly after the incident, the district formed a 16- member Community Recovery Team, made up of administrators, educators and residents of Mont Vernon and Amherst, to research and implement various programs to help students and school faculty deal with and recover from the trauma of such extreme events.
– DEAN SHALHOUP
| Year in review | ||||
| 2009 was a tough year for the Nashua region, as it was for the country and the world. We felt the effect of events far beyond our borders such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the struggles in Washington over health care and other policies, but the big impact came from events closer at hand. To read move of The Telegraph’s look at some of the top stories of the year, check out: www.nashuatelegraph.com/topics/2009review |
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