DANVILLE, N.H. — Murder suspect Paul McDonald is accused of striking his landlord in the head with an ax-like object as many as 16 times on June 11 or 12 before fleeing in the victim's new truck.
McDonald, 49, then assumed victim Richard Wilcox's identity and sold his 2008 Toyota Tacoma to a Barrington auto sales dealer, according to an arrest warrant unsealed yesterday in Vermont.
McDonald got a 1994 pickup truck, a 1978 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and $3,200 in exchange for Wilcox's truck before fleeing to Vermont, where he was later taken into custody.
These and other details were released yesterday when a Vermont judge unsealed arrest and search warrants in the second-degree murder case against McDonald.
The records describe a horrific murder scene at 164 Kingston Road in Danville in the single-family home where McDonald rented a room from Wilcox. Records also indicate the suspect's ex-wife and ex-girlfriend both were in fear of McDonald, his ex-girlfriend so much so that she fled the state.
McDonald told New Hampshire State Police that sometime on the evening of June 11 or the next morning he awakened in a living room chair and found Wilcox attempting to perform a sexual act on him. McDonald said he became enraged and beat Wilcox about the face and head with his fists. The attack began in the living room and continued through the house, he said.
McDonald said he attempted to clean up the scene, but was overwhelmed by the conditions and gave up. He told police he carried Wilcox's body to the basement, placed it in a corner and covered it with a tarp, police said.
An autopsy by New Hampshire's chief medical examiner revealed Wilcox died from multiple "chop" wounds to the head. There were bruises and abrasions consistent with a struggle.
Danville police discovered Wilcox's body during a well-being check at his home on the morning of June 13. Signs of a struggle and violence soon set a homicide investigation into motion. Police found blood spattered throughout the house, in at least five different rooms.
Police found a knife handle with an apparent broken blade near the driveway of Wilcox's home. Investigators learned through local police records that McDonald was a tenant at the house. They also found his girlfriend at the time of a previous arrest was Cheryl Lola.
When police contacted Lola, she told them she had broken up with McDonald in May and she was afraid of him. Lola later fled the state and changed her cell phone number after McDonald had tried to contact her on June 11.
McDonald's ex-wife, Amy McDonald, said he had called her on June 13 and asked her to register a car for him. She refused.
Police looked at records from McDonald's cell phone and discovered calls to Green Hill Automotive in Barrington.
Green Hill owner Daniel Eighmey told police a man who identified himself as Richard Wilcox sold him a 2008 Toyota pickup truck. Police showed Eighmey a photograph of McDonald. Eighmey confirmed McDonald was the man who claimed to be Richard Wilcox. He said he bought the Tacoma on June 12, although he dated the paperwork June 11 at McDonald's request.
Further investigation led police to Kingston Self Storage. Patricia Raymond told police McDonald rented a unit at the facility. She said McDonald had been at the business two weeks earlier and was angry at the world, his boss, his friends and his landlord, according to the warrant.
"McDonald was mad at his landlord because his landlord would not allow him to have guests, would not allow his son to stay over, and he thought that whenever he left the residence, the landlord would rifle through his belongings," Raymond told police, according to the warrant.
Police issued an alert for McDonald on June 13. They finally caught up with McDonald in Hubbardton, Vt., on June 18, after learning he might be in the company of Bobbie-Jean Demgard. Police found McDonald at the Demgard residence.
McDonald told police after he traded Wilcox's truck for a pickup and cash in Barrington, he drove to Portsmouth and the Piscataqua Bridge, where he thought about jumping off.
"He decided against it for his son's sake and at some point drove to Vermont," the court record states.
A Vermont judge yesterday unsealed the arrest warrants in response to a request from The Rutland Herald.
After his arrest in Vermont on a fugitive from justice charge, McDonald waived extradition to New Hampshire. He was arraigned here on the murder charge.
McDonald remains jailed without bail after he waived a probable cause hearing in Plaistow District Court earlier this week.
District Court Judge James Patten forwarded the case to Rockingham County Superior Court, where it will be brought before a grand jury for possible indictment.
McDonald has a lengthy criminal record in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. At the time of his arrest, he was facing a two- to four-year prison sentence on an outstanding forgery case in Strafford County Superior Court.
