CONCORD, N.H. (Court TV) — Police have arrested a woman in Maine months after they say she bludgeoned her elderly mother-in-law to death in New Hampshire.
Danielle Kelsen is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her mother-in-law. (Hancock County Jail)
Danielle Kelsen, 55, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Janet Kelsen, 88, who was found dead at her home in Exeter, New Hampshire.
When Janet’s body was initially found in the apartment she shared with her son and daughter-in-law, investigators thought her death could have been accidental, WMUR reported.
But prosecutors say it wasn’t an accident, and said in a news release announcing Danielle’s arrest that the victim’s cause of death was blunt head trauma. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella also announced that Danielle is facing a charge of wiretapping and eavesdropping after allegedly using an “electronic device to intercept oral communications between herself and Janet Kelsen.”
In an interview with WMUR, Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said they are not looking for any other suspects in the case. “She’s the only individual who’s been arrested because that’s the only individual that we believe was responsible for this action. There shouldn’t be any sort of speculation with regards to another person that was living in the home at the time.”
Danielle was arrested in Southwest Harbor, Maine, with assistance from the Maine State Police. She is scheduled to appear for an extradition hearing in Ellsworth, Maine, on Dec. 10.
