Franklin Man Convicted Of 2022 Stabbing, Murder Of Manchester Man In Hooksett: Follow-Up

CONCORD, NH — A former Franklin resident was convicted on a second-degree murder charge on Tuesday.

Dillion Sleeper, 27, stabbed Jason Wirtz, 45, of Manchester, in Hooksett in July 2022. He was convicted by a jury in Merrimack County Superior Court after a two-week trial.

Hooksett police and fire and rescue teams were sent to Main Street just after midnight on July 24, 2022, for a man down in the middle of the street with a neck wound. The man, identified later as Wirtz, was unresponsive, taken to Elliot Hospital, and pronounced dead.

Also Read

• Franklin Man Indicted On Murder Charges: County Superior Court Roundup
• Fish & Game Divers, Troopers Search For Clues After Hooksett Killing
• Former Franklin Resident Faces Murder Charge In Hooksett
• NH AG's Office, Hooksett Police Investigating Suspicious Death

A suspect fled the area before police and EMTs arrived. Police closed the street and began investigating the incident while asking for witnesses to come forward. Later, Sleeper was identified as a suspect and arrested.

A week before the stabbing, Sleeper was accused of stealing a Kia Optima in Epsom. A status conference for that case is scheduled in Merrimack County Superior Court for Nov. 3.

Sleeper is expected to be sentenced on Dec. 18.

Michael Garrity, the director of communications for the attorney general’s office, said the case was prosecuted by assistant attorneys general Benjamin Agati and Charles Bucca with assistance from the New Hampshire State Police, the Hooksett Police Department, the Bow Police Department, the Merrimack County House of Corrections, and the New Hampshire Department of Corrections.

Have you got a news tip? Please send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Check out the #FITN2024 NH Patch post channel and follow our politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.