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Suspect in fatal shooting held on $100,000 cash bail Teen says gun went off when he was moving it

By James A. Kimble
Staff writer
Published: July 3, 2008

DERRY — Once the bullet pierced the back of 20-year-old Deidre Budzyna, she called out the first name of the man who shot her, running from her truck to a nearby house.

"I don't want to die," she said before collapsing inside a friend's home in Sandown.

As prosecutors retold those moments from the night of June 26, a red-faced Adam Mentus sobbed, wiping tears onto his handcuffed wrists.

Mentus, 19, of Danville made his first court appearance yesterday on a single count of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Budzyna while the two were in a sport utility vehicle with two other friends, Christina Sorrentino and Anthony Palla.

Mentus allegedly took the gun from the home of Nathan Caron at 9 Morrison Lane. The SUV was parked outside Caron's home when the shooting took place.

Deputy County Attorney Tom Reid said that after one of Budzyna's friends called 911, Mentus and others talked about "getting their stories straight" before police arrived.

"There's conflicting stories, but someone took the magazine out of the gun at some point ... and someone tried to dig a hole in the driveway," possibly to hide the gun clip, Reid said.

Reid said Mentus and another man at the residence had likely been snorting heroin or cocaine earlier that evening.

Hours before the shooting, Mentus accompanied Caron to a Plaistow gun store, where Caron bought the .380-caliber gun that Mentus later took from the home, a police affidavit said. Caron had left the home before the shooting, but the friends continued to hang around there.

When Mentus found Caron's gun inside the home, he suggested the group go to a local sand pit to fire it, a police affidavit said.

During the arraignment yesterday in Derry District Court, defense lawyer Deanna Campbell said witness accounts showed the shooting was a tragic accident that may only be the lesser crime of negligent homicide.

That contention could resurface once Mentus' case makes its way to Superior Court. The difference in potential sentences is significant. Manslaughter is punishable by 15 to 30 years in state prison. A negligent homicide charge carries a three-and-a-half- to seven-year prison term.

"Adam Mentus is before you a very distraught 19-year-old kid," Campbell said in court. "He knows he's in part responsible."

District Court Judge John Coughlin rejected the defense lawyer's plea for lower bail and kept it at $100,000 cash. Coughlin also barred Mentus from having contact with witnesses in the case.

If Mentus does post bail, he will have to undergo regular drug testing and report to probation officials daily. He would be limited to a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Campbell said in no way did her client ever act in a threatening or reckless way, based on statements made by witnesses.

Reid cast Mentus as a troubled youth who had a history of drug use that began when he was arrested as a juvenile. Haverhill, Mass., police arrested Mentus in June on charges of threatening to commit a crime. He also has a 2006 conviction for criminal trespassing.

Mentus waived his rights and agreed to speak with police the night of the shooting, the affidavit said.

But Reid said police believe Mentus lied to them about events leading up to the fatal gunshot. Mentus claims he had the gun in his left pants pocket when he first got in the SUV's back seat, the affidavit said.

Mentus told police he took the gun out of his pocket with his left hand, placed it in his right hand and went to put it under the driver's seat when it went off, the affidavit said.

On Tuesday, a group of investigators and forensic examiners concluded the trajectory of the bullet did not match up with Mentus' story that he was putting the pistol under the driver's seat. State police arrested Mentus hours later at his home on 10 Wesley St., where he lives with his parents and brother.

All three family members were in court yesterday, Campbell said, hoping Mentus could be freed on lower bail.

"This family is going to do whatever it takes to stand by him," Campbell said.

Mentus is due back in Derry District Court on July 9 for a probable cause hearing. His case will then likely go before a grand jury in Superior Court.

Reid said there are still unanswered questions in the case. Among them is why Caron bought the same kind of gun a few days earlier from the same gun shop, he said.

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