"Demise of 5 cherished ducks brings a trail of human turmoil" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff April 25, 2014
At the moment the five ducks were run over and killed by a New Hampshire state representative, they were doing exactly what they are known for in Nashua: greeting guests at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Then the car, driven by David Campbell, a state representative from Nashua who had been inside the hotel bar having dinner and drinks, came through the drop-off area, going the wrong direction and traveling about 15 miles per hour, a police report would later note. As the car ran over the flock, there was a “a scream, a thump, and a commotion,” one witness said.
What followed during the next few months is a complicated saga that has produced more questions than answers. It is all laid out in a complex 14-page report issued by the New Hampshire attorney general’s office Thursday.
Elements read like a mystery novel — from an angry confrontation (with an airline pilot who had befriended the ducks), to an elusive suspect, to a late-night ride with a friend who happened to be a police commissioner.
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Campbell declined to be interviewed when reached by a Globe reporter. But his attorney, Gerald R. Prunier, issued a scathing statement, accusing the attorney general of an “exhausting and unproductive fishing expedition into Mr. Campbell’s personal life.”
The statement also lashed out at Southwest pilot James Murphy, accusing him of feeding the ducks even though signs forbid it. The reason Campbell left the hotel, the statement said, was that he feared a physical altercation.
“The evidence shows that Mr. Campbell was not impaired by alcohol, but that he was very upset about running over the ducks, and concerned for his safety that evening,” Prunier said in the statement.
When he announced he would not seek reelection to the Legislature, Campbell said the decision had nothing to do with the incident — known locally as “Duckgate” — contending that the volunteer job took too heavy a toll on his law practice.
Then he will be defending himself?
And what is it about politicians not being able to admit the obvious, huh?
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The story begins just before Christmas last year....
Campbell, who had been at a holiday party with a group of former legislators before joining friends for dinner and drinks at the hotel’s bar, drove over the flock, according to the report. He told police he had double tapped his brakes to slow down, but his foot slipped, causing him to hit the gas pedal by mistake, the report said.
Time to pack it in.
Enter Murphy. He chased Campbell’s car down the driveway to take a photo of its license plate. There the two had a confrontation, during which Campbell allegedly told Murphy that the ducks “should have moved,” according to the report. Campbell’s attorney, Gerald R. Prunier, in a statement Thursday, said Murphy threatened Campbell, saying, “I’m going to make you hurt like the ducks.”
Why did the ducks cross the road?
Murphy observed “Campbell’s gait and odor of alcohol,” according to the report, and yelled to hotel staff to call police. Murphy said Campbell asked him not to call police and said something about how it would ruin his reputation, the report said. Campbell told police that it was Murphy who said he was going to ruin his career after he saw his House of Representatives license plate.
This week, when Campbell announced he would not seek reelection after 14 years in the legislature, he told several media outlets that it had nothing to do with the duck incident, but what eventually prompted an investigation by the state attorney general was not the killing of the ducks, but what happened afterward....
No, it was not a breathalyzer:
N.H. court overturns conviction on tongue color
Live free or open and say "Ah?"
--more--"
Related: Norelli stepping down as N.H. House speaker
She like-a the drink, too?
I'm going to duck out on these items as well as others, sorry:
13 injured in blasts at factory in N.H.
Factory explosion believed to have ignited in acid room
Authorities seek man after deadly blast
Owner of N.H. plant facing new charge
The potentially historic decision, in a state that has long prided itself on Yankee conservatism, is believed to rest with a handful of senators who have not announced their decisions
Time to put this post to death and the Globe along with it.
