Husband wanted over shooting death of wife Breanne Pennington allegedly wrote chilling note: ‘Put hole in head’
The Massachusetts father of four being hunted for shooting dead his wife, Breanne Pennington, allegedly wrote a note on his phone that read: “Put hole in her head.”
Investigators found the alarming message after getting a search warrant for 30-year-old Aaron Pennington’s cellphone Tuesday, a day before another warrant was issued for his arrest, according to WCVB.
It was dated 7:04 p.m. Saturday, the outlet said — the night before his 30-year-old wife was found dead in bed with a gunshot to the face in their home in Gardner.
“Don’t say anything. Be quite [sic] If she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray,” it read, according to the warrant obtained by WCVB.
“Get on side of bed — very close proximity to head. Put hole in her head.”
Pennington has been the subject of a desperate manhunt since Sunday when his wife was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound to the face in a bedroom after her children ran to a neighbor asking for help.
He may have a firearm and is considered “armed and dangerous,” the Massachusetts State Police said Tuesday.
The couple’s marriage was troubled and Breanne even planned to move with their four kid – ages 2, 5, 7, and 9 – to Texas in order to get away, a criminal complaint in the case previously revealed.
Those who knew them said Pennington struggled with mental health issues and threatened suicide in the past, WCVB reported.
According to the arrest warrant, Gardner police received a 911 call about 9:15 a.m. Sunday from a neighbor, Kerri McDermott, who said the kids came to her house, saying they could not find their dad and that their mom was crying in her bedroom, according to the outlet, MassLive reported.
Police arrived at the Cherry Street home a few minutes later and found Breanne lying in bed in the upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead by a paramedic 10 minutes later, the warrant reportedly states.
Cops did not find anyone else inside the home or any visible weapons, WCVB reported.
Breanne was known to have a gun for her protection, but investigators who later executed a search warrant did not find a firearm – though they did find three spent shell casings in the room where she was found dead, according to the document.
Surveillance video showed Aaron leaving 42 Cherry St. at about 8:50 a.m. Sunday in a white 2013 BMW 320 that was registered to him. The couple’s four children were then seen walking over to the house next door.
A hunter found the sedan the next day about 1,500 feet down a wooded trail off Kenton Street near Camp Collier in Gardner.
The couple had already decorated their house for Halloween, with a large “Boo” sign by the front door and some pumpkins lined up along the stairs to the front door, the Boston Herald reported.
“He better turn himself in. He needs to stand up for what he did and turn himself in. And not be a coward,” Brooke Pertile told Boston 25 News of her brother-in-law.
“He needs to turn himself in. He needs to do it for the kids,” she added.
