By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Setting aside the time he was fired from the Claremont Police Department after an internal investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a teen girl, and the subsequent investigation into his threats of rape, murder, and a mass shooting, Republican Jon Stone told InDepthNH.org he’s the right man to represent Claremont again as a NH State Representative.
“[O]ur community needs proven leadership that doesn’t fold when the pressure comes. I’ve never been afraid of a tough political fight, and I’m certainly not going to start now,” Stone said.
Stone is one of three GOP candidates heading into next month’s primary election. He’s likely the only one running with his unique work history.
The unchallenged public version of Stone’s story has him leaving the Claremont Police Department in 2006, starting a retail gun business, and finding work as a corrections officer in Vermont. He eventually got involved in local politics, getting elected to the city council and then the State House.
But that’s not the whole story.
InDepthNH.org started seeking the release of the 2006 internal investigation reports into Stone’s conduct as a Claremont Police Officer in 2020. After years of litigation, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ordered the records released in 2024. Those long-hidden records showed Stone left the department and gave up his police certification due to wildly out of control behavior and violent threats against fellow officers.
Stone told InDepthNH.org the past is in the past.
“You and others in the media can keep obsessing over allegations and events from nearly 20 years ago. That’s your choice. I’m focused on the next 20 years. The people of Claremont care about whether they can afford their property taxes, whether their families are safe, and whether their children will have a reason to stay here and build a life,” Stone said.
The internal investigation reports portray Stone in 2006 as an out-of-control and unstable man who made colleagues worry about their safety, and threatened to rape a woman and her children and murdering her husband.
“Stability is a day to day thing for Jon,” one officer told the internal investigator.
Trouble began with the investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old Stevens High School girl, started when she was 15, brought out a violent side to 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.”
Claremont Police began an investigation into Stone over concerns about his relationship with the girl. Stone was spending significant time with the girl on and off duty, and told his superiors she was a confidential informant into drug investigations. There is no evidence she was ever a source, according to the report.
The girl, who is not identified, told the investigator she and Stone planned to travel to Canada once she turned 18, so that they could drink in a bar together.
That investigation resulted in a recommendation of a five-day suspension for Stone, which set off a wave of unhinged anger from Stone, according to the next report.
“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,” former Detective John Simonds told the investigator. “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.”
Stone was finally forced out of the Claremont Police Department, but thanks to a union mediator, he was able to keep the records out of the public view for two decades. This clean slate allowed him to move into politics.
Stone lost his reelection bid in 2024, the year InDepthNH.org reported on the records. He didn’t quit politics, though. Stone became the Chair of the Sullivan County Republican Party.
“My record in Concord is clear. I fought for taxpayers, defended our individual liberties and traditional values, and stood against heavy-handed government mandates. As chairman of the Sullivan County Republican Committee, we’ve strengthened our grassroots operation, expanded our reach, and brought more people into the fight for a better future for Sullivan County,” Stone said.
Neither of the other Republicans in the race, Catherine Peschke of Croydon, or Sebastian Zyzdorf of Goshen, responded to InDepthNH.org on Tuesday.
Rep. Hope Damon, the incumbent Croydon Democrat for Sullivan County’s District 8, told InDepthNH.org voters need to consider whether or not they want Stone back.
“It is going to be up to the Republican primary voters if they want him to go forward to the general election. It’s really their call,” Damon said. “I do not think he is an appropriate candidate for public office.”
Stone never made any public apology about his behavior uncovered in the 2006 records, Damon said. And while Stone claims all his problems are from decades past, that’s not true.
He was fired by the Vermont Department of Corrections in 2021 for repeatedly directing racist, homophobic, and other slurs at his work colleagues. Stone challenged his termination, but the Vermont Supreme Court ruled against him last year.
“[Stone] admitted to using derogatory terms and profanity in the workplace, including the terms ‘faggot,’ ‘retard,’ and ‘cunt.’ He knew that the language was inappropriate and inconsistent with the sexual-harassment policy. He did not believe that his conduct was a problem because such language was prevalent throughout [Southern State Correctional Facility,]” the court wrote in its ruling.
The Vermont Supreme Court cited numerous slurs and insults Stone admitted using, according to his disciplinary record, like “wetback,” “fat fucks,” calling a female employee a “fat cow,” and making repeated homophobic comments at an openly gay corrections officer.
Even with the less than stellar work history, Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill (D-District 2) told InDepthNH.org that voters should look at policy ideas when they head to the election. Claremont needs Representatives who are willing to take on the serious problems facing the region, she said.
“Sullivan County faces a lot of challenges. It has the highest poverty rate in the state, the highest food insecurity rate in the state, and serious issues with addiction and sub use disorder. Unfortunately, Republicans have been on the wrong side of all of those issues,” Liot Hill said.