MANCHESTER, NH – The homeless man accused in the stabbing death of a 75-year-old man near Nutts Pond should not have been out of jail given his two prior arrests, the victim’s granddaughter said Tuesday.
“Absolutely not. Absolutely not,” said Justina Whitmore. “The law should not have given him a chance on bail. It was just a matter of time before something happened to somebody.”
Daniel Whitmore, 75, of Manchester, was found stabbed to death Friday morning on the popular rail trail, a short distance from The Village at Beech Hill apartment complex.
Police arrested Raymond Moore, 40, formerly of Forest, Miss., outside Wal-Mart shortly after the incident.
On Tuesday, Moore waived arraignment in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District on a felony charge of second-degree murder. He is being detained in preventive detention in the Valley Street jail pending a further bail hearing on Oct 10.
Moore was arrested July 10, 2022, in Manchester on charges of attempted first-degree assault with a deadly weapon – a knife; criminal threatening and falsifying physical evidence. He was released on personal recognizance bail. On Tuesday, Aug. 30, just days before Whitmore was murdered he was arrested again, this time in Nashua on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, two counts, and resisting arrest. Again, he was released on personal recognizance bail.
In the July 10 incident, police went to 100 Merrimack St. at 6:39 p.m. in reference to a man yelling that another man had tried to stab him. Officer Dominic Sardo said “S.R.” told the officer that he and Moore got into an argument over Moore pepper spraying a homeless woman three days earlier.
According to court documents, at one point during the argument in Stanton Plaza, 700 Elm St., Moore told S.R., “I’ll fucking kill you.” Moore, he said, then pulled out a knife and tried to slash him in the stomach. S.R. said he jumped back to prevent him from being cut. He described the knife as a folding knife, camo green in color.
Moore fled the scene when S.R. said he was calling 911. He said Moore walked through the park, went into the small convenience store and then to the fire station. S.R. said Moore possibly threw the knife into the bushes at the corner of Elm and Chestnut streets. Officers were unable to find the knife. S.R. said he wanted to press charges.
Sardo, before talking to S.R., spoke to Moore. Moore said he was sitting in a vehicle with a friend when he was surrounded by homeless people who threatened to beat him up and accused him of stealing their friend’s stuff. Moore didn’t know where his friend went or his name and told the officer he had only been in Manchester for 17 days and is from Mississippi.
As he was speaking with Moore, S.R. was standing across Chestnut Street yelling that Moore had a knife in his right pocket and attempted to stab him with it. Moore was patted down and the officer found a black, empty “buck” knife holster on Moore’s belt. He asked Moore where his knife was and he said he didn’t have one and just keeps an empty holster.
Justina Whitmore told reporters she wanted her grandfather to leave the city but “he loved Manchester and he didn’t want to leave.”
She wanted him to leave, she said, because the city has a lot of problems that need to be looked at “especially after this, with the homeless problem and drugs. Certainly, people living in the woods is not acceptable and an obvious danger to the public.”
She no longer lives in New Hampshire, having left the state in 2018. She declined to say where she resides.
Whitmore said her grandfather lived in a decent part of the city and walked the trail every day. He had worked in construction but, nearing retirement age, underwent open heart surgery, ending his career.
A veteran, she said he had a love of the outdoors and his favorite place was New Castle, where the family would gather. He was the father of one, her mother Shelley Whitmore; grandfather of one – herself – and great-grandfather of one, her 11-year-old son who was very close to him and has taken his death to heart. His current wife, she said, isn’t doing well since her husband was killed.
Justina Whitmore said her entire family, including her grandfather, were born and raised in Manchester.
She said when she talked to her father about the problems with the homeless, he’d say he was fine.
What she also finds disturbing, is that there is a soccer field in the area where her grandfather was slain.
“I often played there as a child so that’s more disturbing,” she said. “There are children in the area at any given time.
Whitmore believes her grandfather was a random victim.
“I think it was random because that area is known for homeless people,” she said. “The gentlemen’s recent encounters with police I feel it was almost bound to happen after reading all the things about his recent encounters with police.”
Whitmore was accompanied to court by a victim/witness advocate and a woman supporter, who declined to give her name.
She said she had walked the rail trail about two hours before Whitmore was killed. She returned two hours later to learn of the murder and see the area cordoned off with yellow police tape.
“I was shocked,” she said, tearing up. “I’m always down there. It’s nerve-wracking.”
She has been on the trail since but said she is always accompanied by her 110-pound dog and is now carrying mace and an object, which she declined to identify, for protection.
“I never had to do that before,” she said. “Now, I feel I have to. It’s like no matter where you go you’re just not safe.”
Shellie Whitmore, who is Daniel Whitmore’s daughter and Justina’s mother, has opened a Gofundme account to raise $3,500 for a memorial for her father.
“I’m his only child, and he was living on a fixed income,” she wrote. “He was a good man and didn’t deserve this. He was just going for a walk on a nice day to keep his heart healthy.”
She said she “can’t even imagine not being able to talk to him anymore. He was my go-to when I needed a parent to listen, and I knew he would tell me how it is, no sugar coating. I appreciated his candor and knew he wasn’t just blowing smoke.”
She said her father loved sports, all kinds of music including rhythm & blues, classic rock and roll, and other classics.
“Please help me lay him to rest the way he deserves,” she wrote.
