After Fuentes Murder, New Panel Calls For Tougher Domestic Violence Protections

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

If New Hampshire wants to stop the deadly domestic violence that took the lives of more than 40 people in the past three years, officials need to get serious about protecting the victims, according to Monday’s report issued by the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.

The committee, formed by legislation last year in the aftermath of Marisol Fuentes’ murder by her estranged husband, outlined 11 steps to enhance protection for people experiencing domestic violence.

“It is critical that we improve protections for victims of domestic violence so that our state never sees another tragedy like the murder of Marisol Fuentes in Berlin,” said Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who pushed to get the committee enshrined in law after Fuentes was brutally killed while at work in a Berlin restaurant.

The Fuentes murder was one of two domestic violence murders that the committee studied as part of its first review. But Fuentes and the other anonymous victim represent a fraction of the total problem. Attorney General John Formella said between 2022 and 2025, New Hampshire recorded 44 domestic violence murders, about half of all murders that took place in the state.

The committee’s report provides police, prosecutors, advocates, judges, and others with a road map to create a better system for victims, one that will save lives, according to Formella.

“This report provides concrete recommendations to strengthen offender accountability, improve victim safety and support, enhance coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors, courts and victim service providers, and promote earlier intervention. No single agency can solve this problem alone. The work does not end with this report; it begins here,” Formella said.

The committee offered 11 recommendations to improve the system, from greater accountability for accused abusers to better training for law enforcement and court staff. Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said many of the recommendations call for getting tough on abusers earlier in the process, before their violence escalates to murder.

“Domestic violence is extremely dangerous, and patterns of ongoing abuse must lead to serious consequences,” Grady Sexton said. “Allowing repeat offenses to be charged as felonies would give prosecutors and courts stronger tools to hold offenders accountable and protect victims from further violence.”

One of the major legal gaps when it comes to protecting domestic violence victims is the court system. Protective orders victims can obtain in court are generally handled by the judicial system’s civil side, leaving judges in the dark on the criminal side. An alleged abuser with civil court domestic violence orders may not get flagged when they are later charged with a crime, even when the victim is the same.

The committee wants to see laws changed so that repeat abusers can be charged with enhanced felonies, police departments get training and guidelines on how to enforce civil domestic violence orders, and judges get the tools they need to track the full records of people charged with abuse.

“Marisol Fuentes and every person killed by domestic violence deserved safety and a future. The best way to honor their lives is to make changes that help protect other victims,” Grady Sexton said.

Police and judges repeatedly failed Fuentes in the months leading up to her murder, according to prior reviews of her case, including those done by the New Hampshire Department of Justice and the Berlin Police Department.

Before her estranged husband, Michael Gleason, murdered Fuentes on July 6 last year, he could have been arrested multiple times for violating court orders, according to the prior reports.

He had been on police radar since at least April 2025, when he was first arrested for assaulting Fuentes. He was in and out of court for no-contact orders, criminal hearings, and an accusation that he sexually assaulted a minor child.

Bail magistrate Stephanie Johnson lost her job when it came out after the murder that she allowed Gleason to remain free on $5,000 cash bail after his April arrest on charges of kidnapping-domestic violence, aggravated felonious sexual assault-domestic violence, and theft by unauthorized taking. At the time, the Berlin police prosecutor wanted Gleason held without bail because of the danger he posed to Fuentes.

But critics say the Berlin police are not free from blame, either. Officers failed to do anything when they were informed about Gleason’s continued harassment of Fuentes and violation of the no-contact order. Damningly, they didn’t take sufficient action when a friend of Gleason called police on July 4, two days before the murder, with alarming news.

Walter Marchiso called the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department on July 4, 2025, because Gleason repeatedly talked about killing himself and Fuentes.

“Gleason [told Marchiso] not being in his right state of mind: that he had been having a hard time with the woman he married, and that he should just kill himself and maybe take her out, too,” the DOJ report states.

Berlin Officer Jarod Beale got the report about Marchiso’s concerns and called Gleason, according to the attorney general’s report.

“[Beale] contacted Gleason by phone and … Gleason denied both knowing anyone by the name of Marchiso, and that he needed any assistance. No further action was taken by Berlin PD relative to Marchiso’s call,” the attorney general’s report states.

Beale was terminated as a result of the report. Gleason took his own life moments after he gunned Fuentes down with a shotgun.

Ayotte said she’s focused on the future.

“I look forward to working together to implement these recommendations and strengthen our laws so we can prevent future tragedies and ensure victims have the protection they deserve.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.