LACONIA — The probable cause hearing for the man who allegedly strangled another man nine day ago in a city mental health support home was continued until July 2.
The hearing for Kasey Riley, 19, formerly of 24 McGrath St. was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. yesterday but Public Defender Jesse Friedman filed for a continuance, saying he needed more time to prepare.
Riley is accused of the second degree murder of the 27-year-old Zachary March in the early morning hours of June 10. Responding police found an unresponsive March in the home after responding to a call. Riley was also in the house.
Affidavits regarding the homicide have been sealed by Judge Jim Carroll and were initially sealed from Friedman, who had to file a motion to get access to them in order to mount a defense.
The motion for the defense team and only the defense team to see the file was granted on June 13.
A probable cause hearing is not a trial but hearing whereby the prosecution — in this case the N.H. Attorney General — must make the case that police had enough reason to arrest Riley and charge him with the homicide.
Riley, who is being held without bail, will also have an opportunity for Friedman to argue for different bail conditions.
The defense team can forgo the probable cause hearing and wait until after their client is indicted by a grand jury.

MEREDITH — A armored van bringing cash from the Mt. Washington Valley to Massachusetts unexpectedly spent several hours in the McDonald's parking lot here on Tuesday evening.
According to police, an apparent exhaust system leak into the cab resulted in one of the employees of Garda Security who was riding in the van becoming quite sick. The van was traveling through Meredith at the time and the driver pulled into the McDonald's parking lot. The ill man was transported to the hospital for treatment but the van had to wait for a tow truck to make its way up from Massachusetts.
Police stood guard over the van and its valuable cargo until the tow truck arrived.

MEREDITH — Ninety-percent of the municipalities in the state and 10 of the 11 in Belknap County are mapped by the New Hampshire Division of Emergency Services and Communications (DESC) according to the Enhanced 9-1-1 Addressing System. But, not Meredith.
Following a presentation to the Board of Selectmen by Kenny-Lynn Dempsey of DESC at a workshop this week, the town appears on its way to joining the pack. The selectmen directed Town Manager Phil Warren to place the issue on the agenda of their next regularly scheduled meeting
Currently, emergency services are dispatched to Meredith with so-called "centerline data," which directs first responders to a street, but not to a specific address. Using GIS data, the enhanced mapping system provides detailed emergency response maps that not only show every structure with an address but also assigns each a GPS point marking its precise location. In particular, the maps identify and locate fire hydrants.
Dempsey stressed that the sole purpose of the improved mapping is to minimize the time required for firefighters and emergency medical technicians to respond to emergencies by directing them to the right place in the least time. Chief Jim Hayes of the Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid Association said that the mapping is especially useful for personnel called to other towns with which they may not be familiar.
"It's a must in my eyes," said Fire Chief Ken Jones, who told the selectmen that he pressed for mapping twice before only to find the initiative stifled at the staff level. "I played a lot of baseball in my time," he remarked. "I've got two strikes and this is my third. I don't intend to strike out."
In the past town officials have been reluctant to adopt the system for fear having to tackle issues such as similar sounding street names and addresses out of numerical sequence. In particular, the numbering of island properties is unorthodox. Dempsey said that DESC would make recommendations to overcome inconsistencies, but assured the selectmen they would not be required to change street names or address numbers.