Man suspected of fatally shooting wife dies of injuries sustained in fire

Staff reports 7:32 a.m.


Man suspected of fatally shooting wife dies of injuries sustained in fire

CONCORD - The state AG's Office reported on Friday that the Derry man suspected of killing his wife the night that he was injured in a fire that destroyed his home died at a Boston hospital on Thursday.

An autopsy of Manoel Viana, 57, was performed by the Massachusetts Coroner's Office on Friday, but those results have not been released.

The blaze was called in around 10:05 p.m. on Sunday, with police and fire arriving shortly thereafter to hear the sound of gunfire and see the house at 27 Mt. Pleasant St. ablaze.

Several Derry Police Officers gained entry, located an unconscious man on the kitchen floor and dragged him from the residence. Due to heavy smoke and fire, however, they were unable to re-enter.

After the fire was out they located a deceased woman inside.

On Tuesday New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jennie V. Duval conducted an autopsy on Marie Viana, 53, and determined that the cause of her death was a single gunshot wound to the head. Duval concluded that the manner of her death was homicide.

Investigators further determined that Viana and her husband had been estranged and that during a custody exchange of their adult child at Mr. Viana's 27 Mt. Pleasant Street residence last Sunday Viana invited his wife inside the residence.

"Shortly after Ms. Viana entered Mr. Viana's residence, two noises, consistent with gunshots, were heard from within the residence," a press release from the AG's Office noted. "Shortly thereafter, the residence was engulfed in fire. The presence of ignitable liquids was detected within the residence and on or around Ms. Viana's body."