By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Eric Windhurst

Lawyers representing a Hopkinton man, Eric Windhurst, charged with the alleged 21-year-old murder of a Hooksett man, Daniel Paquette, who was shot through the heart in his front yard, may argue that deadly force was justified in defense of Paquette's stepdaughter and members of her family.

In a notice of possible self-defense claim filed Tuesday, Feb. 28, in Merrimack Superior Court, Windhurst's lawyers contend “Windhurst reasonably believed that Mr. Paquette was about to use either deadly force and/or commit a forcible sex offense against his stepdaughter Melanie Paquette.”

Attorneys Mark Sisti and Jonathan Cohen said Windhurst may also provide evidence to suggest that “(Daniel) Paquette was about to use deadly force against members of Melanie's family.”

On Nov. 9, 1985, Daniel Paquette, then 36, was shot once through the heart from a distance of 150 to 200 yards while welding outside his Whitehall Road home.

Windhurst, 37, of 34 Kimball Lake Road, Hopkinton, was arrested at a Hopkinton construction site last December, and charged with the first-degree murder.

In a police affidavit supporting the arrest, investigators note five people who reported Windhurst admitted to them responsibility for the shooting.

One of those people, said investigators, was Melanie Paquette, now Melanie Cooper. Cooper told investigators she was with Windhurst at the time of the shooting, and that Windhurst brandished a “long gun,” walked through the woods, and shot Paquette, according to the affidavit.

In their recent filing, lawyers representing Windhurst say evidence may be presented to show the shooting was justified for the defense of physical force, and paint Daniel Paquette as a violent and unstable “monster.”

According to Sisti and Cohen, “Mr. Windhurst reasonably believed that Daniel Paquette had repeatedly raped and abused Melanie Paquette and other members of her family.”

The defense also contends that Paquette repeatedly held a gun to Cooper's head because he didn't want anyone to know about the rape and abuse.

“Daniel Paquette had been so cruel to Melanie Paquette that she described him as a monster,” the notice reads.

The document says Cooper and her family fled the state of New Hampshire, but she returned to live with her aunt and uncle, who took “drastic” steps to hide Cooper's return from Paquette.

“Approximately one week prior to the death of Daniel Paquette, Melanie (Cooper's) aunt had voiced concerns about Daniel Paquette raping and abusing Melanie,” say Windhurst's lawyers.

Cooper has agreed to plead guilty to a charge that she misled investigators, and faces a maximum sentence of three-and-ahalf to seven years imprisonment.

Windhurst's trial is scheduled for September.