CONCORD — A grand jury in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire found probable cause to charge three suspects involved in transporting a woman across state lines from Claremont to Springfield, Vt., against her will and keeping her there for more than 24 hours.
Damarcus Bonner, 30, of Hartford, Conn., and Tyron Harris, 27, of Holyoke, Mass, both face a charge of kidnapping and a charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to a May 20 grand jury indictment.
The grand jury also charged Nicole Palardy, 36, of Claremont — who was added to the federal case after Bonner and Harris — with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to a Tuesday U.S. Department of Justice news release.
If convicted, the three could face sentences of up to life in prison, the news release stated.
With regard to the conspiracy to commit kidnapping charge, the grand jury determined that the suspects did conspire to “unlawfully and willfully seize, confine, inveigle, decoy, kidnap, abduct and carry away” the victim, who spoke with police in January following her rescue from the Springfield residence where she was held hostage, according to the indictment.
Federal prosecutors generally take over kidnapping cases when the offense crosses state lines.
On the night of Jan. 22, a 35-year-old woman met up in Claremont with a friend — whom she identified as Palardy — to purchase drugs, but she was pulled into a truck by two men, allegedly Bonner and Harris, according to police affidavits.
The victim reported that the vehicle brought her to a Randall Hill Road residence in Springfield.
She told police she was waterboarded with peroxide, burned by a hot knife and beaten during her time in captivity, according to affidavits. The perpetrators accused her of stealing thousands of dollars worth of drugs and used her phone to demand ransom money from her Facebook friends.
Following a report from her ex-boyfriend, police descended on the residence where she was being held on Jan. 25. They arrested six people in connection with the crime, including Bonner, Harris and Palardy.
“A search of the residence revealed a firearm, drugs packaged for distribution, duct tape that was used to bind the victim, and items used for torture,” the news release stated.
In an interview at Springfield Hospital in the aftermath of the kidnapping, the victim told police she believed Palardy set her up, according to police body camera footage played in court.
The Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office initiated individual cases against all six suspects. When two of the alleged ringleaders, Bonner and Harris, were federally charged in New Hampshire earlier this month, Windsor County dropped its cases against them, Deputy State’s Attorney Emily Zukauskas said earlier this month.
It remains unclear whether the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s office plans to move forward with its case against Palardy now that she faces the federal charge.
“I have nothing to report at the moment,” Zukauskas said Thursday by phone.
A final pre-trial conference is scheduled for July 8 at 10:30 a.m. at Warren B. Rudman United States Courthouse in Concord. The jury selection and trial are set for a two-week period starting July 21 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Landya McCafferty.
