Tamworth murder suspect arrested again

By Nate Giarnese

Long-plagued by alcohol woes, Tamworth murder suspect Maureen McDonald has jeopardized her $100,000 bail after being arrested recently for allegedly terrorizing a friend.The friend reportedly told police McDonald had been boozing again and had snarled at her, I'll kill you next.McDonald, who turned 38 in June, has pleaded self-defense in the March 2006 stabbing of 31-year-old Ossipee mother Jennifer Correa at a midnight party at the Turkey Street home of Thomas Brennan. The two women had been at each other's throats for hours, with a host of witnesses complaining that McDonald was drunk, outrageously belligerent and annoying. McDonald finally jabbed Correa twice in the heart with a key chain knife after party-goers had repeatedly asked her to leave.McDonald was returned to court on a criminal threatening charge on July 27, prompting state prosecutors to try to revoke the bail posted by a bondsman soon after the bloody small-town murder over a year ago, The Conway Daily Sun has learned.A friend visiting McDonald this summer from Connecticut, Linda Bailey, said that she and McDonald fell into an argument, prompting McDonald to hurl the death threat, prosecutors say. Bailey also said McDonald had been drinking at least three times in the few weeks prior to her arrest last month in violation of her bail agreement.A bail revocation hearing was set for Aug 23 in in Carroll County Superior Court, and a second-degree murder trial remained scheduled for January. It is rare for defendants in murder cases to be granted bail, lawyers have said. Police said Bailey was a friend of 20 years but had not seen McDonald in a decade. The state trooper who interviewed Bailey found her honest, and said she was shaking and tearful after the fallout, terrified for her life after McDonald threw her out of her house. McDonald, who broke her leg in a car crash also while on bail, accused Bailey of trying to steal prescription drugs, said the police report.In an outburst spilling over to a local gas station, Bailey yelled at McDonald that she was faking dependence on a walker, the report says. She once used it to creep into a courtroom after the October car wreck, complaining to a judge that she could barely get to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.Last spring, after McDonald posted the $100,000 bond set by the courts, stunned prosecutors from the state Attorney General's Office clamored to shore up restrictions to ensure she would not fall back on drinking and fighting. She was ordered counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous. She once hit a cop in a drunken fury, and even her friends lament some of her worst antics, court records show.In a jury questionnaire proffered by the defense but struck down by a judge, her lawyer had hoped to have jurors write down whether a crass personalty could make a defendant appear guilty.Suppose you hear evidence that Maureen McDonald is an obnoxious person. Despite this, if you still have a reasonable doubt as to whether she acted in self-defense, would you vote to convict or acquit? the lawyer, Linda Slamon, wished to ask potential jurors.Some of the names listed as state's civilian witnesses who were at the party the night of the fatal stabbing are also ripped from the police logs. Since the killing, several have been arrested for, or have pleaded guilty to, criminal charges, including drunk driving and domestic violence, presenting potential credibility issues should they have to face a jury. The defense has asked for criminal records probes and interviews with some witnesses. Prosecutors have said past crimes by Brennan, who reportedly has a federal weapons conviction, and by Correa, who has been arrested on simple assault charges, according to news reports, are irrelevant to the murder case. Meanwhile, the courts have sealed a host of recent decisions and other documents on preliminary matters, including nearly $4,000 spent on services.At the heart of the case is the defense insistence that Correa, who witnesses said had been getting the best of McDonald in their fist fighting, drove her to use deadly force. If a person starts a fight do you believe that because of that she deserves whatever happens to her in the fight, including death? Please explain, reads the proposed jury questionnaire that Judge Edward Fitzgerald denied in June.It also asked jurors to disclose any martial arts training. As a nurse treated her hand injury after the fatal fight, McDonald allegedly said in front of police, presumably before she knew Correa had died from her injuries: That's what she gets for attacking me. I took a karate class.