Co-defendants in teen's OD death face July trial date

Mark Ross and Leslie Aberle

CONCORD, N.H. - The two suspects charged with giving a Spaulding High senior a lethal dose of fentanyl inside a Rochester motel room last October have had their trial in federal court pushed back to July.

Mark Ross, 41, of Rochester, and Leslie Aberle, 31, of Salisbury, Mass., are both charged with giving 17-year-old Eve Tarmey fentanyl, which she snorted inside a Riviera Motel room, according to police affidavits. Tarmey died early the morning of Oct. 17. Ross has said he thought it was heroin, not fentanyl.

Their trial was to have begun last month.

Jazzmyn Rood

Tarmey's mother, Jazzmyn Rood, 41, who allegedly was present in the room but did not witness her daughter taking the drug, faces federal charges that include concealing knowledge and providing false information to police about the drug's distribution in the death of her daughter.

Ross, who is Rood's boyfriend, and Aberle, are said to have traveled with Tarmey to Massachusetts to buy heroin.

When Tarmey failed to meet a boyfriend in Massachusetts as planned she returned with Ross and Aberle to Rochester where she became distraught about not seeing her date. Aberle is said to have suggested she take some of the drug to "calm her down," affidavits state.

Rood's trial is now set to begin June 7, while Ross and Aberle, who will be tried as co-defendants, will stand trial beginning July 19.

Ross will be defended by Phillip Utter of Manchester, while Aberle will be defended by noted Portsmouth defense lawyer Stephen Jeffco. The trial is slated to take about a week.

Eve Tarmey

U.S. Attorney Donald Feith will prosecute the case.

Ross and Aberle face 20 years to life if convicted, while Rood could face up to three years.

All three defendants are being held on no bail awaiting trial.