HAVERHILL — Police are investigating the second unusual death in Haverhill in as many days.
About 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, police were called to the Haverhill Hound Rod & Gun Club, where a member discovered a man's body on the concrete floor of a pistol range. It appeared the man died of a gunshot wound, Deputy police Chief Donald Thompson said.
He said no foul play is suspected, but an autopsy is being performed.
Nearly 24 hours earlier, two men carried a young woman's body into the emergency room of Merrimack Valley Hospital and quickly left without giving an explanation or identifying her, police said. Officers said there was no driver's license or other identification on the body.
Police said they have since identified the woman as Justine Kleiner, 19, of Manchester, N.H. Thompson said an autopsy and toxicology tests have been performed, but police are releasing no other information, including the names of the men and whether criminal charges are a possibility. He said the investigation continues and called the death "suspicious.''
Police said they tracked down the men after they left the body at the hospital, and officers have talked to them. Police said the woman had Plaistow connections. They said relatives identified her body in Boston, where it was taken for testing by the state medical examiner.
In the case of the man found dead at the gun club, Thompson said investigators identified him as club member Brian Burgess, 38, of 440 North Ave. He was found by a club member who had arrived to open the private club yesterday morning, police said.
"I can only say that foul play is not suspected at this point," Thompson said.
Last night, a woman identified as Sandra Burgess was being interviewed by police at the 440 North Ave. apartment. An Eagle-Tribune reporter who knocked on the door there was told she could not answer questions from the newspaper at that time.
Yesterday, the rod and gun club's Internet site — www.hhrg.org — carried a note saying the club would be closed temporarily.
The man who found the body, who asked not to be identified, told The Eagle-Tribune he went to the club, located on Chadwick Pond Road in Bradford, for target practice and saw the victim lying face up on the floor of the pistol range building. He said a semi-automatic pistol was on the floor next to the body. Police were contacted at 7:24 a.m.
Thompson said he would not comment about what police Capt. Alan Ratte and Det. Glenn Fogarty found at the club when they arrived. Thompson said they investigating the death with the help of state police officers assigned to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office.
The Haverhill Hound Rod & Gun Club is popular with sportsmen throughout the area. The club holds an annual ice-fishing derby on adjacent Chadwick Pond, has hosted state sponsored hunter education courses along with shooting clinics sponsored by the National Rifle Association, and holds various scheduled shooting events, including skeet and trap competitions.
Thompson said that over the years several law enforcement agencies, including Haverhill police, have used the ranges there for firearms training.
In the case involving the woman's body, Thompson said Kleiner's family has been notified but he would not say who identified the body. Haverhill detectives are investigating with the assistance of state police assigned to the District Attorney's office.
Thompson said it is too early in the investigation to say if any charges will be brought against the two men who left the body at the hospital then fled. He said police were called to the hospital at 7:55 a.m. on Wednesday after the body was dropped off.
Yesterday, Thompson said detectives and state police have been in contact with Plaistow police, but he would not provide additional information.
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