(This article by Bob Audette was published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Jan. 13, 2017.)
KEENE, N.H. — Saying he was troubled by some of the facts presented in the affidavit, Cheshire County Superior Court Judge David W. Ruoff bumped the bail of a man charged with manslaughter up to $50,000 cash.
“While not referring to the content of the affidavit while it is temporarily under seal, there are specific facts … I find particularly troubling,” said Ruoff. “I’m not so sure from what I have learned in the affidavit that you can make the argument that this was accidental.”
Cody Yeaw, 25, of Putney, Vermont, was officially charged with manslaughter on Thursday afternoon, in the Jan. 7 shooting death of Robert Wesley, 57, of 22 March Hill Road in Alstead.
Assistant Cheshire County Attorney Kathleen G. O’Reilly had asked for a $25,000 bail, cash or forfeiture, and Yeaw’s attorney, Colin Sandiford, an assistant attorney in the law firm of the Sisti Law Offi ces in Chichester, New Hampshire, had asked the judge to knock it down to $10,000, cash or forfeiture.
“Mr. Yeaw is a 25-year-old man, certainly not a man of means,” said Sandiford. “He doesn’t have any property he would be able to post as far as forfeiture is concerned and he certainly doesn’t have $25,000 cash.”
Sandiford noted a number of family members were in attendance, including Yeaw’s sister and his grandfather, who hoped to assist Yeaw in making bail.
“He has been mainly a New Hampshire native most of his life,” said Sandiford. “He moved here before he was 5 years old from Vermont. … He has family members in New Hampshire that will give him reason to stay and certainly keep him from posing any flight risk.”
Sandiford also insisted that Yeaw was not a danger to the community as “This is not an alleged premeditated killing or a killing that some sort of malice brought to bear on the victim.”
Yeaw has no prior criminal record.
O’Reilly told the judge that it appeared Yeaw had been living at the 22 March Hill Road house at least part time, characterizing him as “somewhat transient.” O’Reilly also told the court that alcohol played a role in the incident.
Despite the plea to lower Yeaw’s bail, Ruoff said that while witnesses were still being interviewed, the higher bail was appropriate.
Ruoff told Yeaw that he was open to any future arguments from his attorneys who might call to his attention any facts that might “undermine” the affidavit and therefore warrant a lower bail amount.
A manslaughter charge means Yeaw “recklessly” caused the death of Wesley.
The court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The New Hampshire State Police, Troop C, responded to March Hill Road at 8:18 p.m. on Jan. 7 in response to a suspicious death report. Wesley was found dead and the State Medical Examiner’s Office determined he had died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
According to a press release from the New Hampshire State Police, the Alstead Police Department and the Cheshire County Attorney’s Office, Cody Yeaw was taken into custody without incident Wednesday in Keene. In addition to the above noted police agencies, the Walpole Police Department provided assistance.
According to an obituary posted by the Fletcher Funeral Home in Keene, Wesley was born in 1959 in Keene, the son of Barbara Wesley (Fredette), who lives in Alstead, and Robert Wesley Sr., who is deceased. Growing up in Westmoreland, he attended Keene High School and was a graduate with the class of 1977. Wesley received a bachelor’s degree in human services from Keene State College. He had lived in Alstead for the past 30 years.
Yeaw graduated from Fall Mountain High School in Langdon in 2010.
