Body discovered in cemetery may be missing N.H. woman
Jason...@virgin.net
by Jules Crittenden
Wednesday, June 2, 1999
A body believed to be that of a missing New Hampshire woman was found
in a cemetery in Peabody yesterday afternoon, two days after her alleged
killer was charged with murder, authorities said.
Debra Duncan, 33, of Somersworth, N.H., was reported missing by her
family Friday. A worker at Puritan Lawn Memorial Park found the body in
some bushes at noon yesterday, the New Hampshire Attorney General's
Office said.
The cemetery worker who found the body told WCVB-TV (Ch. 5) the woman's
feet were bound with duct tape and she was face down under the bushes
with her arms spread wide. There were drag marks leading to the body,
near a vacant building in a little used part of the cemetery.
The body has been tentatively identified as Duncan, pending an autopsy
by the Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner, authorities said.
In an unusual move, police Sunday arrested James Covington, 35, of
Somersworth, who may be Duncan's husband, and charged him with
second-degree murder, even though Duncan's body had not been found at
the time.
A law enforcement source told the Herald that Covington had confessed to
the charge after being confronted by police.
WCVB-TV reported that Covington is Duncan's husband, but that could not
be confirmed last night.
Covington was set to be arraigned in Somersworth District Court late
yesterday. The attorney general's office had scheduled the arraignment
before the body was found. Authorities believe Covington choked Duncan
to death Thursday. Police searched for her all through the Memorial Day
holiday weekend.
Charles Putnam, chief of the homicide division in the attorney general's
office, has said Covington and Duncan knew each other, but he would not
give details of the relationship.
A Herald search of computer records suggests that Covington once lived
at Duncan's address or may have used the address on some official or
credit documents.
Laurie Caron, 15, lives down the street from Covington's current
apartment building. She said she believed Covington moved there
recently. She said she was shocked to hear of his arrest. ``Are you
serious?'' she said. ``And I leave my doors unlocked at night.''
Covington was being held at the Strafford County Jail in Dover.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.