Sunday, December 16, 2012

Text Message Before Murder


Police: Maine woman sent message to family before she was murdered during N.H. standoff


Brittany Tibbetts
Brittany Tibbetts
Cullen Mutrie
Portsmouth, N.H., Police Department
Cullen Mutrie
CONCORD, N.H. — The young woman who was murdered during a police standoff in Greenland earlier this year left behind a final message for her family members.
Police say Brittany Tibbetts, a hairdresser and former star athlete at Noble High School, composed a text message to her mother shortly before she was killed by her one-time companion, Cullen Mutrie.
Tibbetts was being sought by police on drug charges before the fatal shooting on April 12. Mutrie, her alleged accomplice, opened fire on members of the Attorney General’s Drug Task Force when they arrived to arrest Tibbetts and search his home.
After wounding four police officers, Mutrie allegedly fled to the basement, where he shot Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney through a small window. Mutrie subsequently murdered Tibbetts and shot himself.
Following a seven-month investigation into the incident, police released new details about the shooting this week, including the contents of a final text message composed by Tibbetts. It was sent to her mother at 8:08 p.m., according to records provided by State Police investigators, about 90 minutes after Maloney was fatally shot.
“I love u too so much,” the message reads. “More than I’ll ever know we didn’t do anything wrong!! I love u and dad and Linds and gram and gramps soooo much!!! Diesel [the dog] will need you!!! Ok take care of him!!!!! I’m so sorry!!! Good bye!!! 517 post rd Greenland. Take Whiskey [the cat] too bye mom I love you soooo much!!!!!!!”
Tibbetts was a four-year varsity player at Noble High School, graduating in 2004. She was the softball team’s top pitcher for three seasons, including her junior year in 2003, when the Knights enjoyed the best season in school history.
They won the Western Maine Class A title over Scarborough, and lost to Leavitt in the state final in 10 innings. Tibbetts was named Maine’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
“She was a good one,” her former coach remembered earlier this year. “She was just awesome. She worked hard at it. She didn’t walk people and she was always around the plate.”
Just a week before her death, Tibbetts had been at the Fox Run Mall, visiting former co-workers. Tibbetts had worked as a hairdresser at the mall for five years, and had been away for about a year. Friends said she dreamed of opening her own salon while renting a booth at another.
Before the April 12 police operation in Greenland was authorized, a confidential source told police that Mutrie and Tibbetts were involved in dealing upward of 500 oxycodone pills out of the home on Post Road every few days.
According to a sworn affidavit filed by Dover Detective Dev Atma Khalsa, a member of the Attorney General’s Drug Task Force, police were first notified of suspicious drug activity at Mutrie’s home in February 2011. Neighbors told Greenland police they believed Mutrie was distributing narcotics, and that cars were frequently seen coming and going from the residence after staying for a short period of time.
Then in September 2011, a postal inspector conducting a routine review of materials in Portsmouth discovered “a significant number of packages being delivered” to Mutrie’s home from a suspicious address in Florida.
In January 2012, police were approached by an informant who claimed to have knowledge that both Mutrie and his girlfriend were involved in dealing painkillers. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration officers and members of the N.H. Attorney General’s Drug Task Force coordinated with the confidential informant to purchase 10 oxycodone pills from Tibbetts.
The source communicated via text message to arrange a meeting at the Greenland home on Jan. 30. Tibbetts was accused of selling 10 prescription pain pills to the informant during the meeting for $250.
Police have consistently indicated that it was Mutrie, and not Tibbetts, who was responsible for the carnage that unfolded on April 12. Records show that Tibbetts did purchase one of the guns used in the shootings — a .357 revolver — but it’s believed that Mutrie fired the weapon.
“At no time do we have any statements or evidence to suggest that Ms. Tibbetts had either of the two firearms during the course of this entire event,” State Police Sgt. Joseph Ebert, who directed the investigation in the Greenland drug raid, said Friday.
During a press conference in Concord, Ebert revealed a new piece of information regarding the circumstances around Tibbetts’ death. Investigators discovered what Ebert described as a dog leash on her left hand. The finding lends further credence to the belief that she was murdered by Mutrie during the ensuing standoff at the home, Ebert said. Investigators have also determined that Tibbetts was shot at a downward angle, from left to right.
Toxicology testing indicated that Tibbetts had evidence of narcotics, opiates and marijuana in her system. Investigators discovered approximately $14,000 in cash in her clothing.
“Taking the totality of the evidence into consideration, we felt comfortable saying that Ms. Tibbetts death was a homicide as opposed to a suicide,” Ebert said

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

“More than I’ll ever know we didn’t do anything wrong"
Typo or contradiction? If she meant you'll - why is it that it can never be known they didn't do anything wrong?
Poor girl - :(

JerseyJane said...

Emotions aside. Her words sound accepting of her unity with her junkie, lover, significant other. (we didn't do anything wrong)(bye)(the asking to care for the pets).

She could have gave the family some peace with sorry, but even at the brink of possible death she chose words to unite her to her killer in their journey.

The M.E. did not talk of any markings of a forced restraint, so I'm guessing, he kept her close by for their plan of departure, cuz she was so wasted as the time ticked on..But with money being in her pockets, she thought her journey was to run away, to get out of there..Hard to know exactly what is going on in someone's cloudy thoughts.. jmo

Anonymous said...

"hard to know exactly what is going on.....", then why suggest anything at all? This was a beautiful young lady. You may see her as just another junkie but i bet her family and friends didn't. She will be missed by so many.

Lemon said...

“I love u too so much,” the message reads. “More than I’ll ever know we didn’t do anything wrong!! I love u and dad and Linds and gram and gramps soooo much!!! Diesel [the dog] will need you!!! Ok take care of him!!!!! I’m so sorry!!! Good bye!!! 517 post rd Greenland. Take Whiskey [the cat] too bye mom I love you soooo much!!!!!!!”
__________

Saddest word from above: "we"
= showing unity with a drug dealing killer.

JerseyJane said...

Anon 611pm

I didn't suggest she was a junkie..

I talked of cloudy thoughts, a very possible side effect with her positive blood results from her autopsy containing various drugs.

I should have not stated he was a junkie, as far as this article states, he was a drug- dealer.


Anonymous said...

I think she was planning to be killed, kind of a murder-suicide...that is why she told her parents, goodbye.... I think she committed suicide, hence left a note to her mom...sad

Lis said...

“More than I’ll ever know we didn’t do anything wrong!!"

They didn't do anything wrong 'more than she'll ever know' - I take that to mean they did do something wrong, if it was more than she will ever know? "We" shows unity with Mutrie.

She writes:
"Diesel [the dog] will need you!!! Ok take care of him!!!!! I’m so sorry!!! Good bye!!! "

These sound like the words of someone who has either made a choice to die or has accepted that they are going to die.

She loves her mother and her family.

What a sad shame.

Lemon said...

It's interesting to note the "u" of "I love u too so much" and "I love u and dad…" then changes to "you" when she states "bye mom I love you soooo much!!!!!!!”

Randie said...

Bad associations spoil useful habbits.

She got mixed up with the wrong guy. Sad...

Trigger said...

What is it about habitual drug users that make them so unwilling to accept responsibility for anything?

This woman volunteered to live with this dangerous controlling man for sex, drugs, and money. What a lethal cocktail.

Denial is a wonderful thing.