Autopsy: Tilton man died from accidental drowning

TILTON — The death of a man found last Friday in the Winnipesaukee River has been ruled an accidental drowning.

Tilton Police Chief Robert Cormier said the state Medical Examiner came to that conclusion after performing an autopsy on the body of Wesley Nicholson, 62, of 266 Main St., Tilton, on Tuesday.

“It’s just a very unfortunate accident,” said Cormier. “There is no evidence of foul play or intoxication.”

Nicholson’s body was found late last Friday afternoon when maintenance workers went to check on the Clement Dam in the downtown area near Riverside Park, Cormier said.

The chief said the coroner’s report did not state a time of death. He explained that, because of the extremely cold water temperature, it would be impossible to determine with any accuracy how long Nicholson had been in the water. He said the maintenance workers had last inspected the dam on Jan. 8 and they did not see anything suspicious at the time.

”So the best we can determine is that Mr. Nicholson fell into the river sometime between Tuesday and Friday,” Cormier said. He also said there is no way to know for certain where Nicholson fell in, though it is very possible that, considering he lived downtown, that was where he fell in.

Cormier said that, because of the frigid water temperature, Nicholson was probably overcome by the effects of hypothermia within a few minutes of being in the river.

“The body locks up after a couple of minutes [in water that cold],” he said.