Claremont Man Charged With Assault Gets Additional Attempted Murder Charge

Claremont — Rahman Brown, who was arrested in January and charged with first-degree assault in the stabbing a man sitting in a car outside the group home where he lived on Trinity Street, was indicted Tuesday by a Sullivan County grand jury on an attempted murder charge in the same incident.

Police allege Brown, 34, stabbed the man in the stomach several times Jan. 19 during a drug deal that went bad. The victim was able to drive himself to Valley Regional Hospital.

Brown was also indicted on a charge of first-degree assault against another man two days earlier, who had come to the apartment of Brown’s friend, Willie Taylor, to retrieve a cellphone, according to a police affidavit. The victim suffered a laceration to the lip allegedly caused by Brown striking him with brass knuckles with a knife attached after an argument broke out.

In the more serious assault, for which Brown was also indicted for first-degree assault in addition to attempted murder, police said the victim had come up from Manchester to exchange Percocet pills for crack cocaine. A video camera mounted on a building across from 7 Trinity St., a group home owned by Harbor Homes of Nashua, N.H., captured the stabbing. Police allege an argument broke out between the two men and Brown suddenly reached into the car and thrust a knife into the stomach of the victim several times.

If convicted, Brown could be sentenced to life in prison.

Taylor, who acknowledged being present during both alleged assaults, was indicted on two counts of selling crack cocaine Oct. 21 and Nov. 18 at 60 South St.

Colby-Sawyer Student Dies in Crash

Sutton, n.h. — Police said a 21-year-old Colby-Sawyer student was killed on Monday when her vehicle crashed on Interstate 89.

Melissa Molin, of West Hartford, Conn., was on her way to the college around 3:45 p.m. when her 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer hit the median in Sutton, N.H. Emergency responders shut down I-89 until the crash site could be cleared. Molin was taken to Concord Hospital with serious injuries, and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Molin was a psychology major at the college who hoped to become a counselor. She was also a member of the school’s swim and dive team, according to a post on its website.

“The college community extends our deepest sympathies to Melissa’s family and many friends as they try to come to terms with this devestating loss,” the post said.

Counselors were on-campus Tuesday for students, faculty and staff. The college’s flag was also ordered to fly at half-staff.

New Hampshire State Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has information to call Trooper Michael Catalfamo at 603-223-4381.

Feuding Parties in Vermont 911 Dispute Promise Cooperation

Montpelier — Officials from the administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin and the officials who run Vermont’s 911 emergency phone system are promising to work together to resolve budget and policy differences.

The Tuesday comments came a day after officials with Vermont’s Enhanced 911 Board announced the Department of Public Safety would end its role answering more than 70 percent of the state’s emergency calls and withdraw from the system next year.

But Public Safety countered that no decision had been made to withdraw from the system.

The governor’s office says administration officials met Tuesday with the top officials of the E911 Board and other officials.

Company to Buy Bottled Water After PFOA Chemical Found in N.H. Wells

Merrimack, n.h. — A manufacturer is “potentially responsible” for the cleanup in New Hampshire communities where elevated levels of the chemical used to make Teflon coatings were found in wells and drinking water, the state Environmental Services Department says.

A department letter to Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, dated Friday, came after the department found over 20 wells within a 1-mile radius of the Merrimack plant had higher levels of the chemical PFOA.

A spokeswoman for Saint-Gobain said Tuesday the company would provide bottled water to residents in Merrimack and Litchfield affected by the contamination.

— Staff report