NEW HAMPSHIRE’S FASTEST GROWING ONLINE NEWSPAPER

Learning from Facebook was cruelest cut, brother says

Comment Print
Related Articles
Christine Sullivan, left, and Jenna Pellegrini (Courtesy photos)

MONMOUTH, N.J. - There are few people who use it who have escaped the slings and arrows of outrageous Facebook posts of one sort or another, but for the brother of one of two women brutally stabbed to death 10 days ago in Farmington, it has proved beyond anyone's worst nightmare, learning first that his big sister was the victim of this horrific crime and then of the arrest of her suspected killer both on the social media giant before authorities could tell him privately and through normal protocols.

"Social media has made this hard on us," Jeff Sullivan, the 44-year-old brother of Christine Sullivan, told The Lebanon Voice on Tuesday.

Christine Sullivan, 48, who split her time between southwest Florida and Farmington, N.H.; and Jenna Pellegrini, 32, of Barrington, N.H., were both found stabbed to death when police responded to 979 Meaderboro Road early the morning of July 29.

After a weeklong investigation, Timothy Verrill, 34, of Dover was arrested in Lawrence, Mass., on Monday and could be arraigned as early as today at Strafford County Superior Court to face charges of second-degree murder.

Jeff Sullivan said he learned that his sister was likely one of the victims on Facebook early Monday morning, Jan. 30.

"I saw a cryptic message about it on her Facebook wall around 1 a.m. on Monday," he said. "I was able to take it (the message) down, then I began chasing information and when New Hampshire law officers called around 9 a.m., I basically already knew."

His mom, who lives not far from his Monmouth home, found out about her daughter's death from his end, he added, not from police.

"The address (979 Meaderboro Road) was the tipoff," he said.

Jeff Sullivan said learning of the arrest of Verrill the same way from a Facebook post was just as disturbing to him and especially distressing for his mother, Susan Sullivan, whose husband passed some time ago.

"My mom has showed incredible strength," he said. "Today they caught someone, and no one telling her about it was very hard on her."

Jeff Sullivan said he'll do all he can do travel to New Hampshire to help ensure justice is done in the name of his sister and Jenna Pellegrini, a mother of two young children.

He credits law enforcement with doing a good job so far, but believes there's more that could come out about what could have happened to lead to such an unspeakable crime.

"I'm happy they are moving forward," he said.

Jeff Sullivan characterized his big sister as "a dynamic person who could take over a room. She exuded confidence but not in a cocky way, and always had her head up high," he said.

He said the relationship between her and longtime boyfriend Dean Smoronk, who owns the Meaderboro Road property where the bodies were found, had always been a "tumultuous one" and that drugs were often involved, alluding to a South Carolina arrest several years ago that ensnared both his sister and Smoronk. Both were currently out on bail awaiting possible trial, he said.

In that 2014 case, Dean Smoronk, 52, and Christina Marie Cuozzo, 45, of 979 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, were stopped in South Carolina on I-95 after their car pulled into the lane of a Sumter County deputy and almost sideswiped the cruiser in 2014, according to news reports.

During the stop, a K-9 unit was called and suspected methamphetamine was found in Cuozzo's purse and a large quantity of suspected methamphetamine was found inside a fake energy drink along with a small amount of marijuana, pills and an unknown white powder inside a black computer bag, according to the report. Marie Cuozzo has since been identified by law enforcement officials as an alias for the late Christine Sullivan.

"When they began dating her lifestyle changed and she wasn't the same person that she was," Jeff Sullivan said on Tuesday.

A celebration of Christine Sullivan's life is scheduled at the Hoffman Funeral Home, 415 Broadway, Long Branch on Saturday February 11, 2017 from 2-5 p.m.

Read more from:
Top Stories
Tags:
None
Share:
Comment Print
Powered by Bondware
News Publishing Software

The browser you are using is outdated!

You may not be getting all you can out of your browsing experience
and may be open to security risks!

Consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser or choose on below: