Every Motive Being Eyed In Concord Double Homicide Case: Investigators

CONCORD, NH — Officials investigating a double-homicide of a retired couple in Concord have not ruled out any angle despite family members and others suspecting the killings were racially motivated.

Geoffrey W.R. Ward, a criminal bureau chief with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood held a news conference on Thursday after the release of dashcam footage from two SAU 8 Concord School District buses as well as at least one resident showing a dark green Toyota RAV4 SUV at the Marsh Loop trailhead parking lot on Portsmouth Street at around the same time Stephen and Djeswende Reid were believed to be hiking on April 18. They were later killed by multiple gunshot wounds. Detectives were also searching through databases to find potential RAV4 owners to speak with.

Ward stated the owner-operator of the SUV was not a suspect in the case. Investigators, he said, want to speak to everyone who was in the area or on the trail or surrounding trails in an effort to find a suspect or eliminate areas where a suspect may have not been.

But the pace of the investigation, the lack of resolution, and the lack of information provided to the public were frustrating some, including the Reids’ adult children, Lindsay Reid and Brian Reid, who have taken to Facebook, Reddit, and other sites, to spread awareness about the case.

Also Read

• Investigators: Toyota SUV Owner Not A Suspect In Concord Homicide Case
• Owner, Driver Of SUV Sought For Questioning In Concord Homicide Case
• Sketch From Concord Couple Killings Investigation Leads To 100+ Tips
• Sketch Leads To Dozens Of Tips In Concord Couple Killings Case: Watch
• Person Of Interest Sought In Concord Retired Couple Killings Case

Lack Of Information

For about three weeks, Lindsay Reid and Brian Reid, have been active online sharing information about the case and raising questions, too.

Lindsay Reid said the family had been trying to get more info from investigators — including ballistics and other evidence but had received the same answers as everyone else: specifics were not being released to protect the integrity of the investigation.

Brian Reid said in an online post police had been “tightlipped” about a lot of the details. He said their parents’ bodies were dragged away from the trail after they were killed — which may be why the attorney general’s office had stated their bodies were recovered “from a wooded area in close proximity” to the Marsh Loop Trail. Robbery did not appear to be a motive but police had not released a lot of info about the motivation to the family. Police, he said, were using geofencing — the process of collecting wi-fi, GPS, RFID, and cellular data to track cellphones and other devices in use, in the area, at the time, as part of the investigation.

They both appeared frustrated, as have others, when a person of interest sketch was released but it only provided a side view of the person, probably due to the angle of dashcam or doorbell cameras catching only that view, somewhere in the two-plus mile search radius around the trail, where the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Concord police detectives have been searching for clues and were seen interviewing neighborhood residents.

Brian Reid said, in another exchange with other posters who asked about the type of clothes and shoes his parents were wearing at the time, he could not comment on their attire during the hike “to protect our relationship with (the Concord Police Department).”

The couple though did not express any complaints they had with neighbors or residents at the Alton Woods apartment complex where they lived, he said. They took the walks three to five times a week on the Broken Ground Trails — so “it would have been very easy to target them or for someone else to share their schedule.” At the same time, he said, their walks were not scheduled hourly or daily.

“They simply took the trail several times weekly when it suited them,” he said. “It’s another thing that makes the thrill kill theory less likely for me.”

The couple’s recently published obituary gave a thorough overview of their compelling and loving lives — including Stephen Reid’s life in Concord, how he met Djeswende Reid, her experiences both overseas and in the United States, and their insistence that the children be born in Concord.

Their professional careers brought them back overseas including stints in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Liberia, Niger, and Senegal. In the 2000s, they moved to Burlington, Vermont, where Djeswende Reid worked on refugee resettlements while Stephen Reid continued to work overseas. He worked for Associates in Rural Development on projects and reports as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The company was acquired by Tetra Tech, a multi-billion California-based consulting firm involved with water systems and other foreign infrastructure projects. Some of the African countries where he worked were also connected to Djeswende Reid and her family.

In 2009, the couple began working in Haiti a year before an earthquake struck the country in 2010. They later moved to Niger before retiring to Concord, Stephen Reid's hometown, in 2019. The couple celebrated their 38th anniversary in February.

Killings Motivated By Race?

In an exchange with another person online, Brian Reid said his “prevailing theory” was that race played a factor in the killings.

“I can’t rule anything else out but the amount of hate groups mobilizing in New Hampshire has become alarming over the past few years,” he said.

Lindsay Reid also raised concerns about “a chilling exchange” she had with a neighbor in her parents’ building at Alton Woods while clearing out items from her parents’ apartment. While she did not get into specifics about the conversation, she said he was “likely just racist/sick, but could also potentially be involved.” She shared information about the exchange with the police.

Another person not connected to the family or New Hampshire, Deesha Dyer, the former social secretary for President Barack Obama, said the murders were “so off the radar and the obvious is being ignored.” While on Twitter, commenting on one of nearly two dozen Patch stories about the case, she asked, “Do police need to be informed about the dangers of being Black in a white town or being an interracial couple in a white town? I can't imagine they do,” while admitting she had not read all of the articles produced about the homicide case but hoped justice could be found.

Dyer also related she would not and did not feel safe in New Hampshire even with her white partner at night while adding she hoped there would be justice for the family.

While Concord may be considered a “white town” by some, the city’s demographics have changed due to both migration and refugee resettlement during the past two decades. According to the U.S. Census data from July 2021, 60.1 percent of the city's residents consider themselves “white only” while others are Hispanic, Black, Asian, or of mixed race or ethnicity. Many of the New Americans live in the several apartment complexes on the Concord Heights, not far from where the Reids lived.

At the same time, other media outlets have also raised the issue, including the Boston Globe. A report on WGBH radio in Boston also looked at white nationalist collectives and other neo-Nazi and anti-communist organizations which have previously commented about targeting mixed-race couples on college campuses and posted videos online conducting martial arts and gun training in the forests of New Hampshire as well as other states.

“Some residents have raised concerns about what could happen if interracial couples, people of color, or people wearing Jewish or Muslim clothes or symbols were to encounter white supremacists in the woods during a hike,” the report stated.

While there were no Nazi symbols or racist graffiti found on any of the Broken Ground Trails during repeated searches by Patch, they have been found on at least one city preserve before. New Hampshire Audubon reported in 2020 that it found “several stickers with hateful messages” on signs in the Silk Farm conservation area.

One of the main detectives on the Reids’ homicide investigation, Wade Brown, is the same detective who spent years diligently working to uncover a suspect accused of writing racist graffiti on two South End homes in Concord in 2011 and 2012, which spawned the “Love Thy Neighbor” movement in the city at the time.

‘Ridiculous Rumors’

Last month, Lindsay Reid also chastised some in the community online for spreading “ridiculous rumors” that her parents worked for the CIA or “people who don't understand what USAID is are saying that it was a hit for USAID.”

She said she wanted people to understand “that the exotic nature of their work does not mean they were spies or wrapped up in anything sketchy” as well as who her parents truly were — loving, kind, humanitarians.

“Stop with the conspiracy theories,” she said. “Someone in Concord, NH did this or knows the person that did this. If you have a (tip), please call it in.”

While not directly connected to the Reids, there is animosity, including in left-of-center political circles as well as internationally, with USAID and some of its programs.

John Perkins, the author of the highly regarded “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” as well as four other books focused on similar themes, revealed many of the struggles foreign countries have with NGOs, USAID, the NSA, and their national debts and resources.

Democracy Now!, a nationally broadcast program heard daily on WNHN-FM, the city’s low-powered FM radio station, has broadcast many critical stories about the agency, its contractors, and their work overseas. In one report, the writer asked if USAID had become “the new CIA,” after a Twitter account was used to create unrest in Cuba during the Obama Administration.

In an exchange with Brian Reid, one commenter wrote that while the couple’s professional careers were a “less likely scenario,” news articles mentioned locations where the aid organizations “ended up involved in some rather nasty business at various points in time. Some of those resulted in the kind of grudges people take to the grave.”

A spokesperson for the USAID refused to comment about Stephen Reid’s work, Tetra Tech, and its relationship with the federal government. She also refused requests to provide someone from the agency who could explain the process of federal contracting, projects, and other issues involving non-governmental organizations working with and profiting from overseas projects.

Tetra Tech employees also did not return an email seeking comment about Stephen Reid’s work or the company.

Not Discounting Anything

Ward, however, said detectives and officials had not ruled any motive out when it came to the investigation.

They have also not come to any conclusion as to what exactly motivated the suspect to gruesomely kill the Reids.

“Speculating on motive publicly here would be irresponsible,” Ward said Thursday. “Any investigation, especially an investigation like this, where we have not identified an assailant or made an arrest, everything remains on the table. Prudent investigators are not going to cross anything off or discount anything at this stage of an investigation of this nature.”

When asked about the exchange Lindsay Reid had with another tenant at Alton Woods, Ward refused to comment.

“I can’t comment on specifics with respect to the investigation,” he said. “Obviously, we’re in touch with the victims’ family and to the extent, they or anyone report any suspicious behavior or interactions, that is being looked into and followed up with during this investigation.”

Ward refused comment on many other aspects of the investigation from media outlets during the news conference.

Helping The Family

Friends of the Reids’ children have set up a GoFundMe.com site, Justice and Peace for the Reids, to raise money for them to assist with expenses, relieving financial strain, potential legal fees, memorial expenses, and other unplanned costs. More than $4,000 had been raised from 45 donors toward the $20,000 goal.

“Many are learning about the loss of the Reids for the first time; know that we share in your shock and devastation,” they wrote. “If you have been following the case and are searching for ways to offer support, please do so using this GoFundMe page.”

The friends hope to assist in bringing many family members, from all around the world, to New Hampshire for a memorial service later this month.

Ward said the state did have a Victims Assistance Commission which offers limited help by advocates to families. There was also, he said, a cap on the amount of money provided. Ward would not comment on whether the family had received assistance.

Lindsay Reid, when asked about the victim’s fund, said the state had provided them with what was available in terms of victims’ compensation. Brian Reid also wrote online they were taking advantage of grief counseling provided by the state, too.

GoFundMe is a Patch partner.

Also Read

• Vermont Fugitive Logan Clegg Arrested On Concord Murder Charges
• Person Of Interest In Concord Double Homicide Case Arrested In VT
• Investigators Eyeing 400+ Tips In Retired Concord Couple Homicide Case
• SUV Has 'No Connection' To Concord Double Homicide Case: Investigators
• Investigators: Toyota SUV Owner Not A Suspect In Concord Homicide Case
• Every Motive Being Eyed In Concord Double Homicide Case: Investigators
• Concord Police Overtime Inches Up In Wake Of Heights Homicide Case
• FBI, Detectives Expand Concord Homicide Case Canvass
• Sketch From Concord Couple Killings Investigation Leads To 100+ Tips
• Concord Retired Couple Killings Reward Increased To $50K: Alert
• Person Of Interest Sought In Concord Retired Couple Killings Case
• Concord Crimeline Posts $5K Reward In Retired Couple Shootings Case
• Concord Police Beef Up Patrols, Visibility In Recreation Areas, Trails
• A Week Later, Police Chip Away At Concord Double Homicide Leads: Video
• Investigators Back At Concord Retired Couple Shootings Crime Scene
• Concord Residents Face A Mix Of Fear, Faith After Couple Shot, Killed
• Search Grid At Concord Homicide Scene Shows Sprawling Clues
• Concord Couple Shooting Update: FBI Working With Investigators
• Police, Fish & Game Search For Suspicious Death Clues In East Concord
• Missing Concord Couple's Deaths Ruled Homicides; Police Seek Tips
• Suspicious Deaths Investigation Underway At Concord's Marsh Loop Trail
• Dozens Of Police Search Concord Heights For Missing Couple: Video
• Missing Concord Couple's 'Disappearance Is Of Significant Concern'

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.