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Free State talk radio host and convicted murderer Mark Edgington, candidate for a House seat representing Hudson and Litchfield, appears to be a recent arrival to the community.

Edgington, 53, is a longtime resident of Westmoreland, a small community outside Keene on the other side of the state. Edgington is a former partner with Free Keene’s Ian Freeman, the jailed Libertarian talk radio host convicted of money laundering and wire fraud.

Years earlier, Edgington spent about eight years in a Florida prison after strangling a man to death.

While he is now registered to vote in Hudson, Edgington’s address on file with the Hudson town clerk’s office is a UPS Store on Lowell Street.

Edgington did not respond to a question about his residency in Hudson. In April on a Hudson Facebook group, Edgington asked the group about a room for rent in either Hudson or Litchfield.

“I am looking for a room to rent in Hudson or Litchfield. I am a 53 yo non drinker and non smoker,” he posted.

Edgington is married with a teen son, a fact he touts as part of his campaign biography. A married father seeking a rented room in a town more than an hour’s drive away is one more curious aspect to Edgington’s candidacy.

Current Rep. Ralph Boehm and former Rep. Kim Rice are also running in the GOP primary in this Republican-leaning district. Campaign professionals say it’s not the type of district where the party would need a candidate to parachute in to fill a vacancy. There are two safe Republican seats and three candidates, including Edgington.

Boehm suspects Edgington’s run is backed by House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn.)

“We do not need a convicted murderer running for office in the Republican Party. And I think it is a disgrace that this person is being encouraged by the House Majority Leader,” Boehm told NHJournal.

Osborne did not respond to a request for comment. The lone Democrat running in the district, Luan Baci, also did not respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time a Free State transplant running as a Republican generated bad headlines. Former House candidate Elliot Axelman was charged this year with assaulting a teen girl at the 2022 PorcFest, the Free State Project’s annual gathering. 

Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party Chris Ager did not weigh in on Edgington’s suitability as a candidate, saying it is up to voters to decide.

“The people of that district have a choice since it is a contested primary and I’m confident they’re going to make the right choice,” Ager said.

Edgington was 17 when he strangled motel manager Ballapuran Umakanthan, 37, to death, according to his affidavit. Edgington and his accomplice, Carmen Tungate, then 18, planned to beat and rod the motel manager in a Bradenton, Fla. Econo Lodge. When Umakanthan fought back, Tungate held the man down while Edgington strangled him until he saw blood coming out if Umakanthan’s ears, according to the affidavit. 

“35 years ago, at 17, I made some bad choices to hang out with the wrong people. The results were catastrophic. It taught me a lot and I am grateful for the lessons, all of the lessons, that have made me the man I am today,” Edgington told NHJournal via email yesterday.

Edgington pleaded no contest to second degree murder and served less than 10 years of his 30 year sentence. Once released, he attended classes at a Florida community college where he met Freemen. The two would move to New Hampshire to be part of the Free State Project and launch the Free Talk Live show.

Freeman ended up excommunicated from the Free State Project when in 2014 he used his radio show to advocate lowering the age of consent for sexual relations.

Republican candidate Mark Edgington is a successful entrepreneur, a volunteer firefighter, and a philanthropic volunteer who helped build an orphanage in Africa. 

He’s also a convicted murderer who helped beat and strangle a motel manager to death during a 1989 robbery in Florida.

“35 years ago, at 17, I made some bad choices to hang out with the wrong people. The results were catastrophic. It taught me a lot and I am grateful for the lessons, all of the lessons, that have made me the man I am today,” Edgington told NHJournal via email.

Edgington, one of the original Free State Project pioneers, is now running for a seat in the state House of Representatives as a Republican to represent the towns of Hudson and Litchfield.

According to an affidavit given by Edgington that was filed in court and contemporaneous press accounts, Edgington was 17 and his accomplice, Carmen Tungate, was 18 when they killed Ballapuran Umakanthan, 37, in a Bradenton, Fla. Econo Lodge. 

Umakanthan had recently fired Tungate for stealing from the business, according to the reports. Tungate and Edgington rented a room at the Econo Lodge and allegedly lured Umakanthan into the room with a complaint about a broken air conditioner. 

Umakanthan entered the room, and Tungate hit him in the head with a pipe, according to Edgington’s affidavit. Umakanthan fought back but was soon overpowered. Tungate held Umakanthan down while Edgington strangled him until he saw blood coming out of the man’s ears, according to his affidavit.

Once Umakanthan was dead, Edgington allegedly helped wrap him in a sheet. He and Tungate then fled.

Tungate flew to Virginia after Edgington gave him a ride to the airport, according to the reports. Edgington stayed in Florida and was arrested the day after the murder while attending summer school classes. 

Tungate evaded the law for a year and even got featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” He was arrested in Virginia when he tried to get a fraudulent birth certificate using the name of a child who had just died. 

Tungate and Edgington pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Tungate ended up serving 10 years, and Edgington eight, thanks to a controversial early release program that has since been rescinded. 

As a free man, Tungate would go on to accumulate a criminal record for exposing himself to teen boys. He was shot and killed in 2009 in Florida in what is still an unsolved murder. 

Once free, Edgington got interested in the radio business and in the late 1990s he met fellow broadcasting student Ian Bernard at community college. The pair also shared Libertarian political beliefs. The two would move to New Hampshire where Bernard, who changed his name to Ian Freeman, as part of the Free State Project.

Edgington and Freeman started Free Talk Live, Freeman’s successful Libertarian talk radio show. The two were early adopters of BitCoin and saw their investment pay off. According to a New York Magazine article, the pair drifted apart as Freeman became more involved in cryptocurrency activism. Edgington also became somewhat disillusioned with the Free State Project movement.

“Ian and I have completely different goals on what we want to do with our cryptocurrency,” Edgington told New York Magazine. “I want to create a place that’s actually free, rather than a bunch of recalcitrant, autistic people running around arguing with each other. People have been in New Hampshire for 20 years, and not much has occurred.”

Freeman is now serving a nine year federal prison sentence for wire fraud and money laundering related to his many BitCoin exchanges. 

Edgington retired from Free Talk Live and said he’s no longer involved in the operations, though he does guest host from time to time. Edgington says he is ready to contribute to his adopted state as a Republican.

“Now I am ready to deepen my commitment to my state and Republican values by serving in the State House. As a firefighter and party volunteer, I have been passionate about serving my community for a long time. I want to protect parents’ rights to raise their kids how they see best, reduce taxes, and defend the Second Amendment,” Edgington said.

New Hampshire does not bar people convicted of felonies from serving in the legislature, so long as they have served their full sentence, including any probation and paying court-ordered fines. 

A woman with ties to a Massachusetts Marxist commune and who expressed support for Hamas days after its terrorists murdered 1,300 Israelis is facing justice in New Hampshire. 

A grand jury returned felony indictments against Paige Belanger, 32, of Alford, Mass., for allegedly being part of the violent protests at the Merrimack Elbit Systems facility, an Israeli-owned weapons developer.

Belanger is now facing state prison time on charges of riot, criminal mischief, conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, and conspiracy to commit burglary for her role in the Nov. 20 incident during which smoke bombs were ignited from the building rooftop by protesters.

Belanger joins pro-Palestinian progressives Calla Walsh, 19, Bridget Shergalis, 27, and Sophie Ross, 22, on the dock. The women all have one man in common: multimillionaire James “Fergie” Chambers. He uses his family fortune to further his Marxist goals.

According to Canary Mission, a group that documents antisemitic hate, Belanger is a member of Palestinian Action USA, part of the antisemitic BDS movement. Chambers is listed as one of the American founders of Palestinian Action USA, though he told NHJournal he’s not a leader in the group. Belanger also listed herself as the secretary for the Berkshire Communists, a “revolutionary Marxist-Leninist collective” reportedly bankrolled by Chambers.

Chambers put up the bail to get the women out of custody after their initial arrests, something he told NHJournal he does for many activists on the extreme left.

The Marxist left is the prime mover behind many of the anti-Israel protests that have sprung up since the Oct. 7 Hamas murders, and the Israeli military response. The New Hampshire chapter of the Party of Socialism and Liberation coordinates many of the protests.

However, funding for the groups comes from sources closer to the mainstream Democratic Party. A recent report found billionaire Democratic families and major contributors to President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats, the Soros family, Rockefeller family, and Pritzker family, are also handing cash to anti-Israel groups that organized recent college campus protests.

Election Commission data by RealClearPolitics found congressional Democrats running for reelection have taken more than $6.5 million from the three major donors who are also bankrolling the anti-Israel protests roiling college campuses.

New Hampshire’s own Rep. Chris Pappas collected nearly $60,000 from the same people funding anti-Israel and anti-U.S. protests.

Belanger is due in the Hillsborough Superior Court — South in Nashua June 13 for her arraignment.

With the state riveted by the tragic and gruesome details coming out in the Harmony Montgomery murder trial, a child who was failed by the Division of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF), a new legislative special committee is getting started.

But the House Special Committee on the Division for Children, Youth and Families, announced Wednesday by Speaker Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry), isn’t looking at how to better protect children like Harmony who’ve fallen through the cracks. Instead, according to an announcement from the speaker’s office, the bipartisan committee “is charged with considering all matters on due process and practices concerning DCYF.”

The news creates a jarring juxtaposition with the news from the Manchester courtroom where Adam Montgomery is on trial for allegedly murdering his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony, and then hiding her body for months before he threw out her remains. It’s a terrible story that might have played out differently, critics say, if DCYF child protective policies had been more assertive.

Adam Montgomery’s uncle, Kevin Montgomery, called DCYF in July 2019 to report Harmony had been assaulted. According to testimony at the trial, Adam Montgomery gave his child a back eye so severe it changed the profile of her face.

“I beat the dog sh*t out of her,” Adam Montgomery allegedly told his uncle.

Former Child Protection staffer Demetrios Tsaros was assigned to investigate the abuse report, and he testified this week he went out to the Manchester home to make contact on July 29. As he was getting to the home, Tsaros said he saw Adam Montgomery and Harmony get into a car and drive away.

Tsaros guessed he was 30 to 40 feet away from Adam Montgomery and Harmony when he saw them for a matter of seconds.

Tsaros was able to get Adam Montgomery on the phone three days later and set up an appointment to see the girl a week out, Tsaros testified. Adam Montgomery claimed the children in the home were sick and could not be seen on Aug. 1.

By the time Tsaros was finally in the same room as Harmony, it was Aug. 7, and she had no black eye. Tsaros testified the girl had a red mark on her face and some redness in one of her eyes. Adam Montgomery claims the eye injury was from a play-related accident with her step-brothers.

Adam Montgomery is accused of beating Harmony to death months later, on Dec. 7, 2019. Tsaros ended up leaving DCYF in 2021 and is now a postal worker.

The new committee chair, Rep. Leah Cushman (R-Weare), has long championed parents who claim their constitutional rights were violated by DCYF. Last year, she solicited stories to help foster that case for the committee.

“Have you or someone you know had your constitutional rights of due process violated by the Department of Children and Family Services?” Cushman wrote on Facebook. “I have received many such anecdotes from the people and would like to help. In order to help, I need your stories.”

Cushman did not respond to calls and a text seeking comment, nor did other members named to the committee, like Rep. Lucy Weber (D-Walpole), Rep. Pat Long (D-Manchester), or Rep. Alicia Gregg (D-Nashua). 

Cushman did provide a written statement in Packard’s press release, in which she does not make any specific allegations that any parents are having their due process rights, or any other rights, violated by DCYF. 

“As representatives, we are here to listen to the issues our constituents face and, when possible, find solutions to mitigate their concerns. In this case, our committee is tasked with the important, non-partisan job of identifying – if any – deficiencies within the DCYF system as it relates to due process,” Cushman stated. “We will make recommendations to correct any deficiencies found, and if there are none, we will clarify that and see what needs to be done to alleviate the concerns raised.”

Packard’s announcement states the committee will hold hearings, gather testimony, and make recommendations for possible legislation.  

The illegal immigrant convicted of murdering 11 people in the infamous 2015 Curio Massacre in Brazil lived as an average Granite Stater when he was arrested at his roofing job in Rye earlier this month.

“He’s somebody who was definitely in hiding. He didn’t want to be found,” said Rye Police Chief Kevin Walsh.

Federal authorities confirmed to NHJournal that Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, 29, was in the country illegally at the time of his arrest. The former military police officer entered the country legally when he fled prosecution in his home country but illegally overstayed his visa, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said.

“Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho entered the U.S. lawfully in 2019 but did not depart according to the terms of his admittance. He will remain in ICE custody pending a hearing before a federal immigration judge,” the spokesman said.

Meaning he lived illegally in the U.S. for some eight years, even as Brazil’s government was prosecuting him in absentia for a high-profile crime.

Filho was arrested last week by federal agents who had tracked him from Brazil to New Hampshire. Known as Tony Vidal or Tony Filho, he lived in Merrimack and worked as a roofer. 

At the job site in Rye, no one suspected “Tony” was a convicted killer sentenced to 276 years in prison for the torture and murders he committed as a member of the Brazilian military state police.

“We had no clue. The guy seemed like a nice guy, made chit chat,” Sammy Johnson, a carpenter working on the same house as Filho, told Boston’s 25 News.

The morning of the arrest, Johnson was shocked when a flashbang device exploded, and a large truck sped up to the house carrying armed agents who quickly started barking orders. Within moments, they had Filho in custody, Johnson said. Johnson never suspected the roofer was a wanted criminal.

“You have no clue, no clue in this day and age, and how he got into New Hampshire,” Johnson said.

Walsh insisted that although Rye police proactively patrol the wealthy seaside community for traffic violations and speeding, they never had any contact with Filho during the months he worked construction. If Filho was never stopped, it may have been because he was trying to avoid police attention.

“This is a guy who followed every motor vehicle law. This is a guy who did not want to be found,” Walsh said.

What Fihlo’s employer knew about the killer’s identity is another unknown. Employers are supposed to check immigration status for hires, but Walsh said there are many ways around that requirement in the contracting world. He said that many builders tend to look the other way with the tight labor market.

“If a guy shows up on time and does a full day’s work, a lot of places don’t ask many questions,” Walsh said.

New Hampshire Department of Labor Deputy Commissioner Rudolph Ogden said if Filho were working as a subcontractor, a common practice in the building trades, he would not be considered an employee. In that case, contractors are under no obligation to check the immigration status of subcontractors. Despite the apprehension of an illegal worker just days ago, the Department of Labor is not currently investigating the businesses involved in the construction site where Filho was arrested.

Michael Garrity, communications director for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, referred all questions to ICE.

Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, approached Walsh about their planned arrest of Filho before Monday’s raid. The agents had been watching Filho at different locations in the state and determined the safest place to get him was in Rye, Walsh said.

“They felt this was the best location,” Walsh said.

The arrest went down without any incident or violence on Filho’s part, Walsh said.

Agent John Mohan declined to comment on the arrest.

It was unclear how long Filho has been in the Granite State. He reportedly fled Brazil in 2019, taking his family to the United States after deserting his post in the military police. 

According to a statement from ICE, Filho was convicted along with three other military state police officers of 11 murders plus charges of attempted murder and physical and mental torture for his role in the 2015 massacre in the Curio neighborhood in Fortaleza.

El Globo, a Brazilian news outlet, reported the murders had been retaliation for the death of a Brazilian police officer in Fortaleza. Four of the 11 people murdered were teens under the age of 18, and three were between 18 and 19, according to El Globo.

Once he was convicted this summer, Filho became the subject of a Red Notice issued by Interpol, the international police organization that combines the efforts of police in 195 countries around the world. Interpol Red Notices serve as international wanted notices on fugitives who have fled prosecution or escaped from prison.

Gov. Chris Sununu acknowledged that “not all illegal immigrants are mass murderers,” of course. But he said the incident was yet another reminder of the need to step up U.S. border enforcement, including at New Hampshire’s northern border, where illegal crossings have soared by more than 800 percent.

Sununu is imploring the Biden administration and the Democrats in the federal delegation to restore funding for state support of border enforcement stripped after Joe Biden was elected president. In 2018, New Hampshire received nearly $4 million from the Trump administration through Operation Stone Garden to secure the northern border, but those funds were slashed to $180,000 by the Biden administration in 2022 and $200,000 in 2023.

Biden’s cuts to border security go deeper, however. Biden has been steadily cutting funding across the board. The proposed 2024 budget includes another cut to the number of ICE detention facilities even as the number of illegal immigrant apprehensions reaches record highs.