Claremont
Judge Jack Yazinski did not enter pleas on behalf of Monique Earle, 20, who was living in a homeless shelter in Claremont when she was arrested by Claremont police late Wednesday afternoon. Earle, who was not represented by an attorney but was urged by Yazinski to apply for a public defender, has a probable cause hearing on Thursday.
According to a five-page affidavit from Claremont Police Lt. Aaron Reichert, Earle was willing to pay $500 to have Amber Florence kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered because Earle’s boyfriend had left her for Florence and that Florence had allegedly ruined Earle’s life.
Another woman at the shelter, Holly Crace, who only met Earle on Monday when Earle arrived at the shelter, learned of the scheme and alerted police who, with the help of the Attorney General’s Office and the New Hampshire Drug Task Force, conducted an undercover operation that led to Earle’s arrest.
When police got involved on Tuesday, they obtained a sheet of paper from Crace that Earle gave her, laying out the plan to kill Florence.
“The plans were for Amber to be kidnapped, drugged and raped for a few days,” the affidavit reads. “(Earle) wanted her locked in a room and starved for three days and then killed, additional details were listed on the paper to include the location of Florence’s employer and residence.”
Earle also allegedly said she wanted Florence tortured before being killed.
At some point earlier this week, Crace and Earle went to court, where Earle unsuccessfully sought a restraining order against Florence, claiming Florence threatened to beat her up.
“Holly stated that after the order was denied, Monique and her were leaving the courthouse when Monique told Holly she wanted this girl taken care of, I literally want this girl dead,” the affidavit reads.
Later, when Earle wrote down what she wanted done to Florence, Crace told the shelter manager, who advised her to call police.
Police first contacted the Attorney General’s Office for assistance, then interviewed Crace, who agreed to cooperate with police on the investigation.
“Holly was confident that Amber was in danger and that Monique was serious about having someone kill Amber,” Reichert wrote.
After the Attorney General’s Office approved a request to record a phone conversation, Crace contacted Earle, told her there was someone on their way to meet her and confirmed that Earle still wanted to go through with her plan.
In another call between the two women, Earle agreed to meet with the undercover officer. In their first encounter, Earle said she wanted the officer to “kidnap, drug, rape and kill Amber,” the affidavit says.
Earle offered $500 and a purse, which Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway said in court was worth very little. In a second meeting with the undercover officer, Earle showed the places where Florence lived and worked in Canaan and Enfield, and the officer confirmed with Earle who Florence was based on photos printed from Facebook.
Asked again by the officer if she wanted to go through with the plan to kill Florence, Earle “assured the undercover officer she did,” the affidavit says.
In their final conversation, the undercover officer told Earle they would both have to throw their cellphones away so there was no link between them and she could not contact him once the murder took place.
The undercover officer left and Earle was later arrested.
In court on Thursday, Hathaway said that during an interview after Earle was arrested and read her rights, “it was obvious she was serious about it.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
