UL coverage of 197th FIB, March 2011 by Dave Horn

Northern Pass

Trinity defeats Alvirne

Franklin hearing | Page C4

Will play Bishop Guertin in the final | Page D1

“There is nothing so powerful as truth”

MANCHESTER EDITION 8

DANIEL WEBSTER

UnionLeader.com

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Vol. 148, No. 300 • 40 Pages • 50 Cents

Gribble: ‘This is just like a CSI episode’ In contrast, Gribble said killing leads to House vote to his macheteexpand law — Page A2 wielding accomplice Steven Spader, 19, also of Brookline, hacked away at the mother and daughter in bed. “He never stopped. He just kept going and going and going,” Gribble said. “He looked like he was in a rage sort of thing, like he was completely out of con-

Mont Vernon murder scene: Jury hears admitted killer calmly describe

VDeath penalty: Cates’

the brutal attack on Kimberly Cates and her daughter. By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI New Hampshire Union Leader

NASHUA — Christopher A. Gribble on Tuesday matter-of-factly described the control and precision with which he slashed and stabbed a Mont Vernon mother and daughter during a deadly 2009 bedside ambush.

“I was very controlled,” Gribble testiﬁed for the second day at his insanity trial. “I knew where to go for. I knew exactly where to stab. It was very precise,” the former Brookline Eagle Scout said as he described how he repeatedly stabbed Kimberly L. Cates, 42, and her daughter, Jaimie, then 11, with his father’s Boy Scout knife during the Oct. 4, 2009, home invasion.

“

Christopher Gribble testifies Tuesday at his insanity trial in Hillsborough County Superior Court.

VSee Gribble, Page A10

In a way, we started having conversations through the music. That was his way of conversing with me.” SHANNON LAINE Christopher Duﬄey’s musical therapist

CHRISTOPHER’S SONG Pitch perfect: Nine-

year-old is blind, autistic and a talented singer. By TIM BUCKLAND

DON HIMSEL

Anxiety grows at U.S. bases in Japan

New Hampshire Union Leader

Nuclear concerns: Air being tested.

HRISTOPHER DUFFLEY closed his “fake” eyes and belted out another perfect rendition of the national anthem before a hockey game on Sunday. He sings with passion. He sings like a trained vocalist. In the last couple of years, Christopher has become a much-loved local performer of Christian music who also frequently lends his talents to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before sporting events. He is on YouTube.com; you may be one of thousands to have seen videos of him singing

From Wire Reports

MARK BOLTON/UNION LEADER

Nine-year-old Christopher Duffley of Manchester sings the national anthem before the Trinity-Londonderry VSee Song, Page A10 quarterfinal boys’ basketball game at Trinity High School Friday. See him sing at UnionLeader.com.

With minor levels of excess radiation detected in Tokyo and at two nearby U.S. military bases, alarm is building among Americans in Japan who fear the Japanese government and the U.S. military are underplaying the threat of contamination from four out-of-control nuclear reactors. The commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Japan, Rear Adm. Richard Wren, raised anxiety levels Tuesday when he advised residents of Yokosuka Naval Base, near Tokyo, to “limit outdoor activity” — less than a day after he told a town hall meeting that radiation from the reactors wouldn’t affect them. At Yokota Air Base, the largest U.S. base on Japan’s mainland, testing of the air for contamination has gone from twice a day to hourly. The VSee Japan, Page A10

Bill heads to Senate:

More inside

Amendment means change could be delayed up to a year.

VGun laws: House OKs bill easing restrictions, including concealed weapons. — Page A2

Soldiers find time to stay connected From Kuwait, with love:

Guardsmen make recorded messages, send American flags to those back home. By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM New Hampshire Sunday News

By TOM FAHEY State House Bureau Chief

VAG: Vote orders attor-

ney general to challenge health care reform law. — Page A3 VDropout age:

House votes to reduce age from 18 to 16. — Page A3

NEW HAMPSHIRE

CONCORD — The New Hampshire House voted Tuesday for a temporary halt to the early release of prison inmates, a move critics said means some inmates will be released without the supervision that current law requires. The House voted 264-97 to pass House Bill 524, which was meant to give

St. Aubin of Merrimack has been IN reading the ﬁrst Harry Potter book to his son, Jonah. Jonah is only 14 months old, but that doesn’t matter to St. Aubin. “I just love reading to him,” he said.

GUARD

VSee SB 500, Page A2

Abby...............................C2 Business.....................B4-5 Classiﬁed ................. B7-10 Comics/TV .................D8-9 Crossword......................D7 Editorials........................A8 Entertainment ............. D9

Lifestyles ....................C1-3 Lotteries ........................A4 Notices ....... A2, B6-7, C5-9 D7 Obituaries ..................A6-7 Sports ........................D1-6 Weather.......................D10

A Small Prayer

Today’s Chuckle

May we plan ahead ﬁrst, Lord, by including You in all our plans. Amen

These days if you build a better mousetrap, the cat lobby will try to get it banned.

Today IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S NEWSPAPER NEW HAMPSHIRE

Lynch to nominate Judge Nadeau Gov. John Lynch will nominate Judge Tina Nadeau as chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court; she has served on the court since 1996. VPage A5

BUSINESS

Japan: Global shortages feared Concerns are growing that last week’s earthquake and tsunami could lead to a long-term disruption in the world’s supply of automobiles, consumer electronics and machine tools. VPage B4

Surplus Oﬃce Equipment moves Surplus Oﬃce Equipment has moved its Manchester

SHAWNE WICKHAM/SUNDAY NEWS

Second Lt. Albert St. Aubin of Merrimack reads a Harry Potter book to his son, Jonah. Look for more photos, as well as pictures from the New Hampshire VSee Kuwait, Page A10 Guard in Afghanistan on UnionLeader.com under “Photos.”

showroom from Lincoln Street to 186 Granite St., and has new owners. VPage B4

BACK PAGE

Diamond, Alice Cooper inducted Singer and songwriter Neil Diamond was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with heavy metal’s Alice Cooper. VPage D10

SPORTS

New challenge awaits in Hub The UNH hockey team takes on Merrimack College on Friday night at the TD Garden in Boston, looking for a spot in Saturday night’s Hockey East championship game. VPage D1

NCHEST A

REGULAR FEATURES

Camp Arifjan, KUWAIT — Albert

NH House votes to halt early release of inmates

03108

U S A

Today’s Letters: Page A9

FLAVORS

Fresh in Francestown Gourmet meals will soon be available all over the Granite State, fresh from the Francestown Village Store kitchen. VPage C1

From Page One

Page A10 • NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER • Wednesday, March 16, 2011 8

Kuwait

Song

Continued From Page A1

Continued From Page A1 was, “Can we do this?” “My first impression was a heavy heart,” she said. Her second thought: “How can we not? He’s family.” The Duffleys were granted custody of Christopher later that year and officially adopted him in November 2003. Thanks in large part to his four siblings, and in spite of the autism, Christopher has blossomed into an active, happy boy, Stephen said. “It was that stimulus, having them engaging him all the time,” he said. “I can’t say enough about the impact his siblings had on him.” Christopher’s gifts include a A tough first year keen memory, an acute sense of hearing, an excellent sense Christopher was born in May 2001 about 12 weeks pre- of tune and pitch, and that mature. His biological parents gorgeous singing voice. In 30 seconds, he’ll tell you abused drugs and he tested about his singing, his school, positive for cocaine at birth, when he weighed 1 pound, 12 God, the way he makes people feel when he sings and how it ounces, Christine said. makes him feel. He is blind, as retinopathy An example of how good his of prematurity left him with hearing is: at one point durdetached retinas. ing a telephone interview, he He wears ocular shells, or asked a reporter to answer the prosthetic blue eyes, fitted phone, saying the ringing was over his discolored eyes that, bothering him. The phone in in addition to giving him a question was ringing about 20 “more normal” appearance, feet away across the newsalso keep his head from “colroom. lapsing like an hourglass,” He hasn’t been classified said his adoptive father, as an autistic savant, as there Stephen Duffley. is no official classification, “I call them his fake eyes,” Christine said, “but he fits Christine said. “They make him look normal. He looks re- some of the attributes.” According to an article by ally handsome. He’s beautiful Dr. Stephen M. Edelson for with them.” the Autism Research InstiHe was in the hospital for five months after he was born; tute, “the autistic savant is one of the most fascinating his mother lost custody of him in September of that year cognitive phenomena in psychology” and “refers to to the state of Florida, which individuals with autism who put the baby in foster care. have extraordinary skills not His biological parents “fled,” said Christine, whose younger exhibited by most persons.” At 2, Christopher had brother, Skip, is the boy’s biological father. Christopher memorized the Roman Catholic Mass and would spend has since met his biological church services reciting them, parents, she said. including the priest’s parts. He has been diagnosed as “At the beginning, it was autistic. He was able to hold kind of awkward,” Stephen a limited conversation last said with a laugh. “But evweek, which his parents said eryone thought he was cute is a huge leap from when because here was this toddler Christopher would barely who could recite the Mass.” speak to anyone. By 3, he’d started singing, Bringing Christopher especially Christian music. The first song he learned, home “Open the Eyes of My Heart” Christine first visited by Paul Baloche, remains Christopher in March 2002. Christopher’s favorite, SteShe saw a baby so frail that it phen said. took a nurse four sticks of a Teachers at his school, needle before she could find Northwest Elementary, espea vein to administer intravecially paraprofessional Lisa nous fluids. He had double Hanel, “have been terrific for pneumonia. Christopher,” Christine said. She said her fi rst thought He also recently took part upon seeing the helpless boy with national Christian music recording artists at Soulfest 2010. But hearing him sing, “Oh say can you see,” it is hard to remember that Christopher is a blind, autistic 9-year-old who had about as rough a start to life as could be imagined. “I like singing because I have perfect pitch,” an excited Christopher said during a phone interview from his Manchester home. When his adoptive mother, Christine Duffley, asked him how singing makes him feel, he said, “Happy. I feel happy.”

in a national Braille competition, representing New Hampshire and meeting other blind children from across the country. But it wasn’t until he started attending the Manchester Community Music School that his musical talents really started to blossom.

The teacher Shannon Laine met Christopher three years ago when she became his musical therapist. “He wouldn’t have a conversation with you,” she said of the ﬁrst few months. The inability to understand words, even those that are memorized in the form of songs or phrases, is common among the autistic. For example, Stephen said, Christopher can recite the national anthem to you, no problem, but would be lost if you asked him what the song means. But some people with autism are able to quickly grasp other ways to communicate, such as mathematics. In Christopher’s case, it was music. “In a way, we started having conversations through the music. That was his way of conversing with me,” Laine said. So, instead of telling Christopher why he couldn’t have an instrument or toy at that moment, the two would work on a song about it. After a while, Christopher would understand, Laine said. “When I met Christopher, I knew he was something really special,” Laine said. “What is unique about him is how far his musical ability has gone. What sets him apart is his understanding of music. He has absolutely perfect pitch.” He started performing in front of crowds at age 6. He performed at Soulfest 2010 and has sung the national anthem before each of the last several Trinity High School boys’ basketball home games. On Sunday, he sang before Trinity’s championship hockey game at the Verizon Wireless Arena. “What an amazing, special young man he is,” Trinity basketball coach David Keefe said. “Him singing that national anthem, boy, it’s really special to Trinity boys’ basketball. For him to get out there and sing his heart out the way he does, it just takes a special spirit.” Christopher isn’t just a good

singer. He can play the piano and keeps his family’s four guitars tuned. “I had to remind myself that he was blind,” Laine said. “He just compensates for it so well. To him, it’s just this natural thing.” Maybe his mother says it best: “When he sings, he touches people in a way you can’t imagine. He just brings us to a place of simplicity.”

The next step Christopher will face a new chapter shortly, as Laine is taking a year off for maternity leave. Her last day was Friday. She has been spending many recent therapy sessions trying to get Christopher to understand that he’ll be working with a new therapist. He gets it, she said, which is a monumental leap forward for him. “He’s told me that he doesn’t want me to leave,” she said. “It is profound for him to even be able to express that.” Friday’s goodbye was tearfi lled. “We’re very, very close,” Laine said. “It’s become very clear that this is not the end of my relationship with Christopher. Our relationship is going to continue beyond the therapy that’s been provided over the last three years.” The Duffleys, who said they are deeply religious, said they believe Christopher is an example of “God’s grace.” Christine said Christopher has inspired her to speak on behalf of pro-life groups, as Christopher proves that a child who might have been considered unwanted can become something special. However, she said, raising an autistic child, even one with Christopher’s talents, is difficult and often frustrating. She said that, without the help of family — “my parents have been a godsend” — and the assistance of schools and church, life with Christopher would have been much harder. “I think what Christopher teaches us is that every life is precious and it’s messy,” Christine said. “A lot of people ask how we do it. I think God’s grace is what brings a lot of people through their trials.” One thing that will continue, everyone agreed, is Christopher’s pursuit of music. “Actually, I’ll go on tour,” Christopher said. “I’m going to make music.”

Gribble Continued From Page A1 trol,” Gribble told a Hillsborough County Superior Court jury. Gribble spent the entire day on the witness stand seeking to convince a jury he was legally insane when he planned and committed the murderous home invasion. While Spader attacked the mother, Gribble said Jaimie Cates jumped “right into me” and he stabbed and cut at her until he lost his grip on her. The girl landed still and motionless against a sliding glass door. Spader came around the other side of the bed, kicked the girl a few times then, grasping his machete with both hands, raised it over his

hand and brought it down on her with full force. “I think somehow he was trying to cut her head off,” Gribble said. When the lights were turned back on, Gribble said the bloody room and the victims’ hacked bodies looked like a scene from a television crime drama. “There were even little bloody footprints on the ﬂoor. It just struck me, this is just like a CSI episode,” Gribble, 21, said in a steady, calm voice. Spader stood panting in the bedroom and looked like a character from a “horror ﬂ ick,” Gribble said. “At some point, Steve said

ﬁ nish them off,” he continued. Gribble assumed the girl was dead; her mother was barely alive. “I did go back over from my side of the bed … and very carefully aimed for the carotid artery and pushed my knife in,” he said. Jaimie Cates survived by playing dead, then calling 911. Public defender Donna Brown asked her client if he felt anything during the attack and robbery. “No,” was his ﬂ ip response. Later, as he drove away from the murder scene, Gribble said he felt “an incredible relief” and remembered

“comparing it to an orgasm.” “That anger, that nastier side of me that was saying, ‘Do stuff,’ it was like it was quiet. It wasn’t like an actual voice, but (it) was not bothering that side of my mind anymore,” Gribble explained, comparing the emotion to a “pet dragon that keeps nipping at you” then quietly goes to sleep once it’s fed. “It was like, ‘Wow, I actually did it and I feel better now … I haven’t felt this good in a long time,’” he added. Gribble will return to the witness stand today. The state is expected to cross-examine him. .

For more details on Gribble’s testimony, go to unionleader.com

Japan Continued From Page A1 U.S. Navy said it was repositioning some ships, including the USS Essex, an amphibious assault vessel, from the east coast to the west coast of Japan’s Honshu island because of contamination concerns. U.S. helicopter crews supporting Japan’s post-tsunami search-and-rescue efforts have been found with elevated — although not serious — radiation levels. The rising anxiety came after four days during which the 38,000 U.S. military personnel living in Japan, along with 43,000 family members, believed they had escaped unscathed from the 9.0-point quake and the

tsunamis that ravaged Japan’s northeast coast on Friday. U.S. military installations were undamaged and American bases were well outside the evacuation zone around that Japanese authorities declared around the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Then, on Tuesday, the Navy reported “very low levels of radioactivity from our sensitive instrumentation” at two bases, Yokosuka and Atsugi Naval Air Facility, amid a ﬂurry of more bad news from Fukushima Daiichi, where four of six reactors have been compromised. An explosion very late Monday — the third at the com-

plex since the earthquake and tsunami — in Unit 2 may have damaged cooling system, as well as the unit’s nuclear core, according to information Japan provided to the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency. Spent nuclear fuel caught ﬁre in Unit 4, releasing high levels of radiation. Early today, another ﬁre was reported at Unit 4. If the worst happens — a full core meltdown and a large release of radiation — people living within hundreds of miles of the plant could have a somewhat higher risk of developing cancer over decades to come. Experts say the risks depend on

how much radiation is released, how much exposure people get to it and over how long a period, and how the winds blow. (See related story, Page C4.) There’s very little risk for people in the United States most atmospheric scientists say, because any plume would disperse widely, said Thomas Tenforde, president of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Monitoring. Fallout spreading after being blown thousands of miles would probably be below the level of concern for elevated cancer risk, he said. .

Information from the Los Angeles Times and McClatchy Newspapers was used in this report.

2nd Lt. St. Aubin, 24, is a member of the New Hampshire Army National Guard’s 197th Fires Brigade, deployed here in support of the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Guardsmen often work 12-hour days, and are lucky to get one day off a week. But they find time and ways to send little pieces of themselves home to the ones they miss. At this base’s “Resiliency Center,” run by the chaplain’s office, the USO sponsors a program called United Through Reading that allows service members to record themselves reading books, and then sends the DVDs and books free to their families. That’s where St. Aubin, the assistant supply and logistics officer for brigade headquarters, records himself reading to his little son. Before he left on deployment, he said, “I used to read to him every night before bed.” He was a little afraid his boy would forget him over the year-long deployment. Being able to send the DVDs helps, he said, “instead of getting up at 4 in the morning trying to read to him over Skype.” Sgt. Brian Gordon of Chester also stopped by the Resiliency Center Tuesday to record a couple of books for his 5-year-old nephew, Aiden, and 2-year-old niece, Rylee. The soldiers get 30 minutes on each DVD and can add their personal comments. On his recording, Gordon, a public affairs specialist for the 197th, told the kids he’ll see them when he comes home on leave at the end of May. “Maybe we can read the books together,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.” In the PX here at Camp Arifjan, you can buy a stuffed camel wearing an Army hat and embroidered with a heart and the words “I Miss You” — or a moose sporting a T-shirt that says, “Love you, Miss you, From Kuwait.” And many soldiers have sent home American flags that have flown over their base, to honor a departed loved one, to mark a special occasion or just to say thanks for the support. Since the 197th arrived here in November, the Camp Command Cell has flown 189 flags, according to Sgt. Dawn Cookson of Hillsborough. Each flag is sent home with this citation: “In appreciation for your support of the United States Armed Forces deployed in support of Operation New Dawn.” Often, a flag will be filled with sand from the storms that blow through the camp. “We send it that way,” Cookson said. “It’s a piece of here.” On Tuesday, the flags here were at half-staff in honor of Army Cpl. Frank Buckles, the last World War I veteran, whose funeral was being held a world away that day at Arlington National Cemetery. 1st Sgt. Kandy Fredette of Webster was giving Cookson some pointers on how to tightly fold a flag with the requisite 13 folds. Fredette is a member of the New Hampshire Honor Guard back home; her husband Richard is its coordinator. Fredette has presented flags at more than 200 funerals. Her first, she said, was the toughest. The soldier’s widow was an elderly woman. “You’re standing there presenting this flag, and there’s this tiny lady and you see the little tear coming down...” Here in Kuwait, Fredette has become a penpal with

students in Mrs. Damon’s class at Inter-Lakes Elementary School in Meredith after they sent a letter to “any soldier” and she wrote back. For Valentine’s Day, the class sent her a big red heart signed by all the students. Fredette decided the kids deserve a flag. “I just sent it out this morning,” she said Tuesday. “So they can fly it at the school if they want.” Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan of Rye ordered some hand puppets on-line and films skits for her daughter, Casey Elena, who turns 4 in May. She enlists her fellow soldiers to play different characters. “It’s silly and we crack up doing it,” she said. Then she e-mails the video clips to Casey Elena back home. The contact is important to both mother and daughter, Morgan said. “I know I’m going to miss a year of her life, but what I’m able to do is watch her grow up. And she gets to see me. She feels safe knowing I’m OK.” In a way, the folks back home are what this mission is really all about, according to Maj. David Fink of Manchester, the executive officer for the Camp Command Cell that runs base operations here. “You’d rather not have the conflict on our own home soil,” Fink said. “National security and our way of life demand a price. There are people willing to serve ... essentially, to take the fight to the enemy and keep it off our own soil.” The attacks of 9/11 proved what’s at stake, he said. “It’s important to see first, understand first and act first so we don’t get caught short on our own home soil,” he said. Like many of those deployed here, Fink has been to the region before. He served in Iraq in 2004-05 with the 1st/172nd Field Artillery at what is now called Camp Adder. This deployment is very different, but just as critical, Fink said. “What we’re doing here is providing stability for the region,” he said. “Without us being here, the folks in Iraq and Afghanistan would have a much harder time.” After 30 days here, the New Hampshire soldiers received their combat patches, featuring the five arrows of the 197th Fires Brigade, to be worn below the flag on the right arm. If a soldier has been deployed before, he or she can choose which combat patch to wear. Fredette wears the combat patch of the 2nd Marines. She was one of 12 Guardsmen who volunteered to go with a Pennsylvania Guard unit to Iraq in 2005, and that unit was attached to the Marines. One of her fellow Guardsmen was Staff Sgt.. Jose Pequeno of Lisbon, the Sugar Hill police chief who suffered a devastating brain injury when his patrol came under attack on March 1, 2006. She’s been to visit Pequeno in Florida, where his mother and sister care for him so he can be near a V.A. polytrauma center.. His wife and children live in New Hampshire. Fredette said she’ll never wear a different patch. “That’s the one Jose had when we went over there,” she said. “We said we’d all come back.” .

The “NH Guard in Kuwait” Union Leader and UnionLeader.com series is made possible in part with the assistance of Next Step Orthotics and Prosthetics and of DEKA Research.

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