MANCHESTER, NH — Dale Holloway, the man charged with shooting a Pentecostal bishop during a wedding and who is accused of beating his attorney inside the Valley Street jail, is asking a judge to release him on home confinement because he has asthma and is at risk of contracting COVID-19.
Holloway, last known address of 549 Lake Ave., is being held without bail in the Valley Street jail on attempted murder, first-degree assault and other felony offenses.
The charges stem from an Oct. 12, 2019 incident at the New England Pentecostal Church in Pelham. Holloway is charged with the attempted murder of Bishop Stanley Choate, 75, who was shot in the chest; first-degree assault for knowingly causing injury to the bishop by means of a deadly weapon; being a felon in possession of a .380 caliber pistol; second-degree assault for recklessly causing injury to the bride Claire McMullen, 60, who was shot in the arm, and simple assault for striking the groom, Mark Castiglione, 60, in the head with a firearm.
The wedding was the same day as the funeral for Luis Garcia, 60, of Londonderry, Holloway’s stepfather who died Oct. 1 at his home after being shot in the neck. Brandon Castiglione, 24, of Londonderry is accused of second-degree murder in Garcia’s death. Castiglione is Mark Castiglione’s son.
On Oct. 21, 2019, Holloway allegedly assaulted public defender Michael Davidow in a conference room at the jail. Davidow suffered severe head injuries including a brain bleed and a broken nose.
Defense attorney Brian T. Lee, in his April 2 motion for bail review filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court Southern District in Nashua, said on Oct. 15, 2019 Holloway agreed to be held on preventive detention pending an evidentiary bail hearing that was set for Oct. 22, 2019.
He did not have counsel at the hearing as he was accused of assaulting his attorney the day before and he was ordered held in preventive detention. Holloway has been in the Valley Street jail ever since.
On Jan. 24, he was indicted on two additional felony charges. He was to be arraigned on March 19 but because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the court canceled it and no new date was scheduled.
Holloway filed a pro se motion for bail review and reconsideration for personal recognizance due to COVID-19. Lee submitted a supplemental motion.
“For more than five months the Defendant has been subject to the most extreme bail status under New Hampshire law – detention without bail,” Lee wrote.
He said a defendant is entitled under the law to an evidentiary hearing with live witnesses.
“Given the current global circumstance this court should consider whether release under strict conditions and supervision is more just than preventive detention,” Lee wrote.
Jail populations, Lee wrote, are hotbeds for the spread of COVID-19 and it remains unclear whether jails are capable of handling the severe health risk that the virus poses to its population.
State and federal officials are already working (with the judiciary and counsel) to decrease prison populations using methods unique to this time, according to Lee. Many courts across the country are quickly acting to grant the release of prisoners because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 3, Carroll County Superior Court Amy Ignatius ordered Terrance Perkins, 73, who has diabetes and a heart condition, released from jail. He was indicted in January for a December assault on a female correctional officer. He was serving a year-long sentence for threatening his wife and grandchild with a gun.
The judge agreed with jail superintendent Jason Henry who said he could not ensure Perkins’ safety from COVID-19.
Perkins will stay with his wife in Tamworth under strict conditions. All guns are to be removed from the home.
Valley Street jail, officially the Hillsborough County House of Corrections, is the state’s largest county jail and the county was the first to experience a COVID-19 death.
Statewide, as of April 7, there were 747 COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire. In Hillsborough County, there are 288 cases with 123 of them in Manchester.
Lee said in his motion that the CDC released data on March 31 indicating people with underlying health conditions who are infected with the virus are more likely to require hospitalization, including intensive care, and are also at a greater risk of death. Asthma is an example of one of those underlying conditions.
A court hearing is set for April 14 in Nashua.