By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
The public still does not know what the mother of Elijah Lewis allegedly did to her 5-year-old son, who was murdered in the fall of 2021 and buried in woods in Massachusetts.
Now, WMUR is pushing the Hillsborough Superior Court — South to get the murder affidavit filed against Danielle Dauphinais, 36, unsealed. David Sakowich, managing editor at the state’s television news provider, said given the fact Dauphinais is indicted on several criminal charges in the case, and those indictments have been made public, there is no longer a need to keep the document under seal.
“(W)e believe that unsealing the arrest affidavit at this point in the prosecution of the case would be consistent with other criminal prosecutions where the Office of the Attorney General has sought to unseal previously sealed Probable Cause Statements specifically noting that because the defendant had been ‘indicted and the indictments have been made public, there is no further need for the items above to remain sealed,’” Sakowich wrote.
WMUR was behind the effort to get the Adam Montgomery affidavit unsealed last month, giving the public its first look at the grisly death of his child, Harmony Montgomery, 5. Adam Montgomery is facing murder charges in her death.
Assistant Attorney General Bethany Durand is not opposing WMUR’s motion, but asked Judge Charles Temple to give the state 24 hours notice if and when he does choose to unseal the documents. This time would be used to contact Elijah Lewis’ remaining next of kin.
The first glimpse of what happened to Elijah came when Dauphinais’ boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, pleaded guilty to his role in the child’s death. The plea deal between Stapf, 32, and the state mean that he is expected to testify against Dauphinais when her case goes to trial sometime next year.
According to Durand’s statements during Stapf’s plea hearing last year, the couple tortured and abused Elijah for months before he was killed in 2021. Stapf allegedly knew Elijah was in rough shape in the weeks before he died, but instead of protecting the boy, or even bringing him to a doctor, Stapf went along with Dauphinais’s torture, Durand said.
Dauphinais starved her son, made him stand for hours without clothing and blankets in his room in their basement apartment in Merrimack, and she beat him, cut him and burned him, according to Durand.
Stapf eventually became concerned about the boy, according to Durand, and wanted Dauphinais to feed the boy and clothe him. The concern, according to text messages, was getting Elijah healthy enough that the couple could safely leave him with another relative.
“Maybe let him sleep and feed him,” Stapf wrote in a text to Dauphinais. “No more you know what to him, he needs to look good so we can go out,” Stapf wrote.
Elijah’s mother was not willing to show any mercy or kindness to her son, according to her text response.
“This (expletive) kid deserves nothing,” she wrote back.
Elijah weighed 19 pounds when he died. The average 5-year-old boy weighs 40 pounds. At one point, in September or 2021, Stapf became worried about a rotten hole in the boy’s back, Durand said, but not enough to bring him to a doctor.
On Sept. 21, 2021, Elijah suffered one last beating at the hands of his mother, according to Durand. Stapf found the boy naked, in the bathtub surrounded by broken tiles smeared in blood. Stapf still did not get the boy medical help. Instead he bandaged the wound on his head and put him back in his room, Durand said.
Elijah’s badly beaten body was found in the woods in Abington, Massachusetts after investigators started asking about his whereabouts. He was allegedly left in a shallow grade by his mother and Stapf.
Meanwhile, Dauphinais and Stapf fled the state soon after police started asking questions. Dauphinais and Stapf were eventually arrested in New York in October of 2021, and brought back to New Hampshire.
Stapf will serve between 22 and 45 years in the New Hampshire State Prison for his role. He was convicted on charges including manslaughter and second-degree assault.
Dauphinais is facing life in prison, charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and other charges.