BATH, N.H. — The shooting deaths at a Bath home on Tuesday were preceded by years of growing animosity between family members living together and recent attempts to evict one of the victims from the residence.
Hours after the double fatal shooting, the alleged shooter told police that he had been feeling suicidal in recent months following a brain tumor operation and a belief his own death was near, according to to court documents.
Charles “Chuck” Readey, 73, was charged on Thursday with two counts of second-degree murder for allegedly killing his sister-in-law, Cindy Moody, 67, and her daughter, Kristal Moody, a 39-year-old West Fairlee resident, according to court documents.
Readey was ordered held without bail in Grafton County jail following his court arraignment in North Haverhill. A guilty conviction on either count is punishable by a lifetime prison sentence.
Mother and daughter died of gunshot wounds to the chest and their manner of death was homicide, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.
The ongoing conflict inside the Readey household on Tyler Way was familiar to law enforcement.
The day prior to the shooting deaths Readey, 73, had called the Bath Police Department and left a message that “conveyed his frustration with Cindy (Moody) living in his basement. He wanted her out of the house and said she did not help around the house or with bills. He said she also didn’t pay rent,” according to the police affidavit in support of the charges.
Bath Police Chief Todd Eck “had previous interactions with the family and was familiar with Readey and the situation that had grown tense over the last year,” the affidavit said.
Readey filed an eviction petition in Haverhill District Court on Sept. 15 to force his sister-in-law out of the basement room where she had been staying for the past three years, according to court records.
A hearing on the petition with both parties present was held the following day. The petition was dismissed on Sept. 23 after Readey agreed to accept $200 in monthly rent payments from Moody “for an extended period of time,” court records show.
But six days later, on Sept. 29, Readey filed a second eviction petition against Cindy Moody. That second petition was denied by the court the same day.
Charles Readey’s attempts to evict his sister-in-law were the culmination of Cindy Moody’s rocky presence inside the home, Sharon Readey, Moody’s sister and Readey’s wife, told investigators.
“Sharon advised that Cindy (was) an alcoholic and drinks all day and all night. She does not clean up after herself or help with the house at all,” the affidavit said.
Sharon Readey told police that her husband and sister had been arguing on Wednesday, but that was not unusual because it had been “common for quite some time,” police wrote. After lunch, Sharon Readey said she was awoken from a nap by a “boom” and when she went downstairs “she observed Kristal and Cindy laying on the ground” and saw that the “window of the door was blown out.”
Sharon Readey looked outside and saw her husband “walking across the lawn with a rifle in his hand,” according to the affidavit. She called out to him and he turned to her and remained calm but said nothing.
At that point, Sharon Readey called 911 and ran into the woods to hide.
Charles Readey told state police detectives that he had been asleep in his bed when he heard his sister-in-law and her daughter talking outside, which angered him because he did not want his niece at his home. Charles Readey told police that Kristal Moody would bring her mother “alcohol, food, and vapes.”
When he heard his sister-and-law and her daughter outside, he went to his bedroom and opened the rifle case and put four rounds into his pocket and went outside, the affidavit said.
Readey said “he was not sure what his intention was when he went out, but he advised they started to yell at him. He turned around and went back into the house and grabbed the single shot rifle from the case under the bed,” according to the affidavit.
“Readey took the gun and started to walk back toward where Kristal and Cindy were. He observed Kristal through the basement door and fired a shot that shattered the glass in the door and hit Kristal,” according to the affidavit.
He told police Cindy Moody then came running over and yelled, “What did you do?”
At that point, Readey opened the door and shot Cindy, police said.
As he walked away, Readey yelled “something to the effect of, ‘Look what you made me do,’ ” according to the affidavit.
When Eck got to the scene he saw Readey “behind the shed with a rifle in his hand” and “pointed in the air toward Readey’s face,” according to the affidavit. The police chief explained that he could not render aid to the shooting victims until Readey lay down the rifle.
Readey responded to Eck by saying, “You can’t help them now,” the affidavit said.
Sharon Readey emerged from the house and shouted to her husband: “Don’t do this,” according to the affidavit, and Eck instructed her to get back inside.
Eventually, Eck managed to persuade Charles Readey to lay down his rifle and surrender, according to the affidavit.
In an interview after the shooting, Charles Readey also told police that his sister-in-law had been a source of stress in his and his wife’s lives for 40 years. That created issues in his marriage, especially over the past three years while she was residing with them, he said.
Charles Readey told police that he has been through “so much” in life, including a brain tumor from which he had to recover in a nursing home, followed by physical rehabilitation in order to learn to walk again.
“He said all he ever tried to do was get his life together and felt like he was constantly being pushed into a corner,” the affidavit said. “He expressed frustration that nobody could help him get Cindy evicted, and he tried multiple times.”
Charles Readey told police Cindy Moody would constantly threaten him and his wife over not letting her use things in the house like the freezer and other appliances. She would threaten to accuse him of being a domestic abuser unless he did what she wanted.
Over the past six months, Readey said, he had been feeling increasingly suicidal and had been “getting rid of his stuff,” which police said was confirmed by Sharon Readey.
“Readey said he wasn’t quite sure what the end was going to be, but he knew the end was near,” the affidavit said.
Those experiencing a mental health crisis can call or text the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point at 833-710-6477 or 988.