By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
BERLIN – Tom Macholl started his shift at the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility on Friday afternoon, the first time in more than two years the veteran corrections officer has been on the job.
Macholl’s been fighting for his job since his 2023 termination after a questionable Department of Corrections use-of-force investigation put an uncomfortable spotlight on former Commissioner Helen Hanks and Assistant Commissioner Paul Raymond.
Hanks resigned suddenly in May, the same day Gov. Kelly Ayotte placed Raymond on leave and announced Hanks departure. Ayotte also appointed Police Standards and Training Council Executive Director John Scippa as the interim DOC commissioner the same day. Macholl told InDepthNH.org that Scippa reached out to him in May, saying he wanted to correct the injustice done.
“Their intent is to fix this department,” Macholl said. “I’m excited to be working for these guys.”
Scippa did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Raymond’s attorney, Bill Christie. Raymond ended up at the center of Macholl’s termination appeal after an investigation by the Public Integrity Unit of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office uncovered Raymond knew about evidence that clears Macholl, but reportedly did not share that information.
Macholl was fired in the spring of 2023 for allegedly using an illegal chokehold on an inmate. But, based on the evidence, the state’s Personnel Appeals Board overturned that firing and ordered DOC leadership to bring Macholl back in the spring of 2024. The DOC appealed that decision, lost, and still did not bring Macholl back. The case ended up in the New Hampshire Supreme Court where justices ordered in April that it go back to the Personnel Appeals Board for another hearing.
Before the next round of hearings, however, Hanks resigned and Scippa stepped in to end the dispute and get Macholl back to work.
“This man fixed our lives,” Macholl said. “There hasn’t been a night in the last two years I haven’t woken up thinking about this.”
Macholl was fired in 2023 for the alleged excessive force before the DOC’s internal investigation was complete. Hanks and her leadership team referred Macholl to the Attorney General’s Office for criminal prosecution, and to Scippa for decertification of Macholl’s license to work as a corrections officer.
But the Public Integrity Unit never charged Macholl. The investigators instead uncovered “disturbing” information about the allegation.
According to the evidence presented to the Personnel Appeals Board, Macholl’s bosses knew there was no illegal chokehold.
“PIU Investigators find it troubling that, within a day of the incident, Assistant DOC Commissioner [Paul] Raymond specifically asked Capt. [Scott] Towers to review the video footage and render a professional/expert opinion. … It was Capt. Towers’ opinion that the video did not support that a chokehold was used, yet when he asked Assistant Commissioner Raymond if he wanted this documented he was told no. As a result, nowhere in the file is there any record of this information, which is, without question, exculpatory in nature,” the PIU investigative report states.
Macholl thinks he was targeted after clashing with Hanks. Macholl was a leader in the corrections officers union. While he was fighting his termination, he heard from other officers who told him they were scared to speak out because of what happened to him.
“Officers were saying, ‘watch out, they’ll Macholl you,’” he said.
Probation and Parole Officer Seifu Ragassa, who is also president of the Probation and Parole Command Staff Association union, said Hanks and other DOC leaders were known to harass and bully people who crossed them inside DOC.
“Corrections is a very difficult job and no one deserves to come to work for Corrections and be accused of wrongdoing when they’re actually trying to do their job,” Ragassa said.
Macholl coming back is a sign that DOC culture and leadership is about to change for the better, Ragassa said. Macholl’s return gives hope to the officers currently on the job.
“This gives comfort to the others that this retaliatory and bullying action will no longer be tolerated,” Ragassa said. “It’s very nice and very good to see a man who was put out of work for no valid reason has gotten his job back.”