By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Republican Rep. Jon Stone’s New Hampshire law enforcement career ended when he threatened to kill fellow police officers in a shooting spree, and murder his chief after raping the chief’s wife and children, all while he was already under scrutiny for his inappropriate relationship with a teen girl, according to the internal investigation reports finally released this week.
Stone, a twice-elected Republican state representative for Claremont, has been fighting to keep those reports secret for years. Last month, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that Stone could not block their release in response to this reporter’s 2020 right-to-know request, ending years of legal challenges.
Stone did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. His attorney, Peter DeCato told InDepthNH.org he had nothing to add.
The documents portray Stone in 2006 as an out-of-control and unstable man who made colleagues worry about their safety. Stone had a reputation for being aggressive on the job and had already been disciplined for assaulting a mentally disabled man during an arrest, and for failing to arrest an intoxicated driver who a short time later nearly hit a police cruiser in Vermont.
But the investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old Stevens High School girl, started when she was 15, brought out a violent and deranged side of Stone that had other officers scared, according to the investigation conducted by now deceased Claremont Detective Colby Casey.
“If he gets fired, people are afraid he will go postal,” then Claremont Detective Jesse Vezina told Casey. “He makes me nervous as far as after a confrontation with him, he may try to do something to my wife or family. Generally people think he is crazy and wonder why he is a police officer.”
Vezina told Casey he started staying up late with a loaded shotgun in case Stone ever came to his house.
Claremont Police Captain Mark Chase, now retired, investigated Stone in February of 2006 for the inappropriate relationship with the girl, according to the report. Chase found Stone had been seeing the girl for several months on and off duty while claiming she was a source for drug investigations. However, there was no police record of Stone ever using any of the girl’s information in an investigation.
Police administration got wind of the relationship when word started getting around town and the girl was getting bullied at the high school for being a “rat,” Chase wrote. At the time, Stone worked drug investigations for the department.
Chase spoke with the girl, whose identity is redacted in the reports, and she spoke of plans she made with Stone to go to Canada after she turned 18 so that they could legally drink together at a bar. The girl reportedly got upset during the interview with Chase, and said she did not want Stone to get in trouble and she “does not want to go to court over this.”
One witness told police Stone and the girl made plans for a sexual encounter once she turned 17, but the girl denied this in her interview, as did Stone when he was later interviewed. While the two reportedly talked about sex together, there was no proof they had a physical relationship, according to Chase’s report.
“(She) obviously has feelings for Officer Stone and (she) has told Officer Stone that she loves him,” Chase wrote. “Officer Stone takes this statement as a friend, but the way that (she) speaks about him it appears it is more than friends.”
Another witness told police Stone once called the girl from a bar at 1 a.m. and had her and a friend pick him up because he was intoxicated, according to the report.
During his interview, Stone told police he first met the girl when responding to a prowler call, but their relationship started up after a later incident when the girl called police because her mother had not come home that night. The mother turned out to have been with a male companion that night.
Stone acknowledged he called the girl frequently and saw her many times while he was on duty. On the phone, they frequently talked for more than an hour, Stone told Chase.
During this investigation, Stone was ordered not to contact the girl. He violated that order and spoke to her by phone at least twice, according to Chase.
Chase found Stone engaged in conduct unbecoming a police officer, and neglected his duties. Chase recommended a five-day suspension and moving Stone to the day shift instead of his preferred midnight shift.
Weeks after Chase wrapped up his investigation into Stone, on March 8, 2006, Casey was called in to investigate Stone’s alleged threats against other officers, Chief Alex Scott and his family, and Chase. Casey’s report is heavily redacted, and there are no public details on the alleged threats against Chase.
Casey spoke with more than a dozen officers who heard Stone make threats against Scott and his family, as well as threats to kill other officers and staff in a shooting spree at the station. Officer Matt Foss told Casey “stability is a day to day thing for Jon.”
Detective John Simonds, now Sullivan County Sheriff, told Casey he heard Stone make numerous threats aimed at Scott and his family.
“I have heard him say (when he is pissed off) that he is going to go to the Chief’s house and rape his wife. He is going to make the Chief watch. He is going to possibly hurt the Chief while he is there,” Simonds said. “I recall Jon saying he was going to go to the Chief’s house and rape the Chief’s wife, and kids, and shoot the Chief.”
Scott, now a private attorney, was unavailable to comment on Friday.
Stone’s numerous threats to go on a killing spree were also heard by several officers, who said he frequently played with a gun silencer, and he even had a “D-Day” put on the dispatcher center calendar, Casey reported.
Interviewed by Casey, Stone claimed he had poor memory of the alleged threats, which Casey found less than credible. While he acknowledged making some comments in anger, like that Scott “needed a bullet,” his memory failed when asked about the many other alleged threats.
“Stone did not deny saying the things and did not report the others interviewed were lying – he just simply avoided answering the questions directly by using selective memory,” Casey wrote. “During the interview with Officer Stone it was clear to me that he had selective memory concerning events about the threats towards employees. When asked about certain things that did not involve the threats Officer Stone’s answers were clear and direct.”
Stone also acknowledged he let it be known that he found Scott’s wife attractive.
“Stone did recall telling an employee ‘that he would do her’ referring to the Chief’s wife, but stated he meant that in a good way,” Casey wrote.
At the end of the interview Stone was ordered not to contact any of the witnesses, an order he ignored just like in the previous investigation, according to Casey.
“Stone nearly immediately violated that direct order by calling employees and talking about the text of the interview. One of the employees contacted me directly and told me of the conversation and had information about the interview that was only available to him/her from Stone,” Casey wrote.
Casey reports he concluded Stone lied during the interview, and got Stone to agree to sit for a polygraph exam. Casey reports Stone failed the exam when he denied the alleged threats.
Stone does not currently appear on the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule for officers with known credibility concerns, though lying is typically enough of a reason to get placed on the EES.
After Stone was terminated from the department, he appealed through the police union mediation process and came to an agreement with the department and city. In exchange for leaving his position and giving up his certification to be a police officer in New Hampshire, the department would purge his personnel file of the internal affairs reports. The department complied with the agreement, but kept copies of the reports separately in its internal affairs records.
Stone currently sits on the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. After leaving police work, Stone got a job as a prison guard in Vermont, and he started a business selling guns in Claremont.