Megan Murphy, arrested last week and charged with impersonating the Belknap County sheriff online, may have worked for New Beginnings Without Violence and Abuse.
The domestic violence shelter was the recipient of a message on their website claiming to be from Belknap County Sheriff Bill Wright, criticizing the organization for not supporting his re-election campaign. The sheriff has said any communication from him would be from his official email address, not via a website form.
Murphy, 26, of Gilmanton, was arrested for criminal defamation last Friday in Lacoina.
“I’m happy Laconia investigated it and came to a conclusion,” said Wright of the arrest.
Detectives were able to track the sender’s IP address to Murphy.
Murphy was released on personal recognizance, or a personal promise to return to court, and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 23.
Two domestic abuse survivors said Murphy was employed at New Beginnings as recently as October 2021.
A phone operator at the shelter said they could not confirm Murphy’s employment with the organization. The Sun could not confirm a current employee with that name in the staff directory.
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