Michael S. Carney, 44, was shot dead at his Moose Brook Drive home in Stoddard, New Hampshire, on the evening of February 9, 2017. An insurance agent and former Sullivan selectman, he was a father of three. The shooting followed a dispute after Michael learned his estranged wife, Nicole Carney, had secretly purchased a house in Stoddard; the two had been separated since March of the previous year. Nicole told police she feared him, was upstairs with their five-year-old daughter, and fired two shots as he advanced up the stairs; Michael fell to the bottom of the staircase and was found dead from two gunshot wounds.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office later concluded Nicole was justified in using deadly force and no criminal charges were filed. Michael’s family, including his sister Caryn Perkins, challenged that finding and uncovered deleted communications linking Nicole to Keene Police Chief Brian Costa. Two days after being told state police had recovered some of those messages, Chief Costa died by suicide. A 2019 State Police review documented the previously suppressed relationship but did not alter the ruling that the shooting was justifiable. Questions from Michael’s relatives remain unanswered.

Does anyone have further information about Michael’s last hours or about the deleted communications that family members say were recovered?