Newport
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected in the case, Hathaway said.
Hathaway said Buzzell, who appeared via video conference from New Hampshire State Prison, was a suspect early on in the case after the victim, Christine Beebe, said he might have been one of the two men who tied her up in the basement of her home on River Road on May 3, 2015, and stole jewelry and gold and silver coins and bars from a safe.
Beebe was discovered the next morning by two contractors doing work at the house. Beebe and her husband, Arthur, own Twin State Coin and Treasures in West Lebanon.
Some of the items were sold to a pawn shop in New York City by Buzzell, said Hathaway, reading from the state police affidavit, which was made available to public defender Jay Buckey but otherwise sealed.
Asked after the hearing why police didn’t arrest Buzzell after the items were pawned in New York, Hathaway said that crime was in a different jurisdiction and his office would have a stronger case if there was a charge in New Hampshire.
“We could establish he was in New York and pawned some items but couldn’t establish with certainty where or how he came into possession of them,” Hathaway said outside the courthouse.
Buzzell, who has a lengthy criminal record, was jailed on May 6, 2015, just days after the home invasion, on an unrelated parole violation.
The phone calls between Buzzell and his wife, Sarah, were recorded between March 24-29 of this year. Hathaway said Buzzell gave specific instructions on where to find some of the gold and silver that was taken from the Beebes.
On Wednesday, law enforcement authorities located a number of items buried off Chandlers Mill Road in Newport that were taken from the Beebe home, Hathaway said in court.
Buzzell, who was released from prison on Wednesday, was immediately arrested.
Buzzell’s criminal record goes back more than two decades and includes multiple arrests and convictions for a variety of offenses including shoplifting, simple assault, first-degree assault, burglary, driving under the influence and receiving stolen property, all in New Hampshire, as well as convictions for arson in Vermont and shoplifting and being a fugitive from justice in South Carolina.
Buckey, his public defender, argued for $10,000 personal recognizance bail because the single charge his client is facing is a non-violent one and he has strong ties in the area.
Hathaway, citing the flight risk, Buzzell’s criminal history and the serious nature of the home invasion, argued for $250,000 cash-only bail.
Judge Bruce Cardello sided with the prosecutor and ordered the higher bail.
A probable c3ause hearing on the felony charge is scheduled for Tuesday, May 31, in district court.
In 2014, about a year before the home invasion, Arthur Beebe was sentenced to 1½ to three years in the New Hampshire State Prison after pleading guilty in April of that year to receiving stolen property and falsifying physical evidence.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
