Man fatally shot mother of kids in head, then took the children, NH officials say
_fitted.png "Caitlyn Naffziger died Feb. 29, 2024, after officials say the father of her children shot her in the head.")
A New Hampshire man was found guilty of murder after officials say he killed the mother of his children.
Dustin Duren was convicted of second-degree murder following a six-day trial, according to an Oct. 28 news release from the New Hampshire Department of Justice.
Duren was accused of killing Caitlyn Naffziger on Feb. 29, 2024, by shooting her in the head as she sat on a couch at his Berlin apartment, officials said.
In his own defense, Duren testified that he shot Naffziger to protect his children, WMUR reported.
In the testimony, streamed by Court TV, Duren said Naffziger had been at his apartment all day and he told her she needed to leave. But he said she grabbed one of their kids and was holding them with her arm around their chest. He said when he tried to take the child, Naffziger pulled the child back and wouldn’t let go.
Duren testified that Naffziger began making financial threats, said he would never see the kids again and threatened to report to police that he kidnapped the kids. After he tried to grab the crying child again, Naffziger pulled and yanked the child, refusing to let them go, he said.
Eventually, Duren said he grabbed his gun.
“I take the two steps over, grab the gun,” Duren said. “As I’m taking probably three steps back over, I’m chambering a round into the gun. I grab (my daughter) by the shirt collar, the front of her shirt collar, I pull her forward – not to me. I pull her forward to get some sort of distance between her and Caitlyn – pull her forward, and then fire.”
The prosecution argued that there was no evidence Naffziger planned to take the kids and she sat on the couch unarmed and wrapped in a blanket when she was shot, Court TV reported.
After the shooting, Duren took off with the kids, prompting an Amber Alert, WMUR reported.
“Specifically, I call my mom, and I don’t tell her anything specifically what happened. I just tell her that I shot Caitlyn, that the girls were OK, that I was gonna go dark for a little bit,” Duren said
The kids were eventually found safe and Duren was arrested, news outlets reported.
“This verdict brings accountability for the tragic and senseless death of Caitlyn Naffziger,” Attorney General John M. Formella said.
Duren was also found guilty of knowingly and recklessly causing Caitlyn Naffziger’s death, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and endangering the welfare of Naffziger’s child.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11.
