What to Know
- Forty-four-year-old Jeramie Colella of Dover, New Hampshire was ordered held without bail after he waived his arraignment.
- Colella has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Joanna Colella, and his father Francis Colella.
- An autopsy to determine their cause and manner of deaths is scheduled for Wednesday.
The New Hampshire man accused of murdering his wife and his father inside his home is being held without bail.
Jeramie Colella, 44, waived his arraignment in Strafford County Superior Court so he didn’t face a judge Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Dover Police were called to 18 Tideview Estates Monday morning.
“Dover was there to do a well-being check and they discovered the bodies,” explained Assistant Attorney General John Kennedy.
Colella is now charged with two counts of second-degree murder. Police say he killed his wife, 43-year-old Joanna Colella, and his father, 69-year-old Francis Colella, sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.
“You don’t want to think anyone living close to you could do that to someone else,” said neighbor Debby Boyle.
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The bodies were found just across a small parking lot from where Eric Cuvellier lives with his wife.
“It’s sad, I wish I could’ve done something,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
As the state builds its case against Colella, the affidavits are sealed and prosecutors are withholding a lot of the details, but turning to neighbors for help.
“We would ask at this point if anyone in the area heard or saw anything Sunday around noon time until Monday morning, contact the Dover Police Department,” said Kennedy.
Cuvellier told NBC10 Boston he works the third shift and was awake all night.
“I was up Sunday into Monday morning and nothing,” he said.
Residents say a double murder in the usually quiet neighborhood is shocking but there was a growing concern among some residents about Colella.
“There’s been chatter in the neighborhood, someone suggested he’s been getting worse, withdrawn and disheveled over the past year, so I don’t know what happened,” Boyle said.
NBC10 Boston reached out to Joanna Colella’s family Tuesday morning but they had no comment and asked for privacy.
Colella will be held without bail until his indictment within 90 days.
