A 37-year-old Nashua man with no fixed address is being held without bail after police say he sent a relative on Cross Street a string of gun-brandishing videos and death threats, prompting the woman to start packing her belongings to flee with her juvenile son. Jonathan Murphy was arraigned Tuesday in the 9th Circuit Nashua District Court on a single charge of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony under New Hampshire law.
According to the Lowell Sun, the woman called 911 on Monday, August 10, after receiving a barrage of messages that began around 2:30 p.m. and escalated quickly. Police were called to the scene around 8:10 p.m. that evening. Among the messages Murphy allegedly sent were “ima kill ya both today,” “yall gonna die,” and “i'm about to come to your house and let bullets fly all through your house.”
The woman told police Murphy also wrote, “i'm coming for you the (expletive) now.” She described him as extremely volatile and erratic, and said the firearm shown in the videos was a real gun belonging to a family member. Per the same account, the pistol seen in the footage — a black-and-purple handgun Murphy is accused of holding on camera — has not been recovered.
Videos Sent From a Moving Truck
Investigators say Murphy recorded himself firing a pistol out the passenger window of a Ford F-150 pickup truck while driving Monday, and that he sent the resulting videos to the relative on Cross Street. The videos did not directly depict Murphy's face, per the police report, but detectives determined the Facebook account used to send them, listed under the name Johnny Banks, belonged to Murphy. Investigators also concluded that Murphy's voice matched the audio captured in the videos.
During a Mirandized interview, Murphy admitted Johnny Banks was his Facebook profile but claimed he could no longer access the account, and said he was merely practicing with the pistol when he fired it. He denied sending the threatening messages himself. When detectives pressed him on the firearm's whereabouts, Murphy invoked his right to counsel, and the interview was terminated.
Arrest Came During a Traffic Stop 35 Miles Away
Murphy was not taken into custody in Nashua. Jaffrey police stopped him Monday for an unrelated traffic offense in Jaffrey, a Cheshire County town roughly 35 miles west of Nashua, before executing the felony arrest warrant issued out of Nashua, according to Rome2Rio. Jaffrey officers also arrested Murphy on separate driving charges and seized his F-150 pending a search warrant, leaving the pickup — and the still-missing handgun — at the center of an open investigation spanning two counties.
Murphy entered no plea at Tuesday's arraignment, according to court documents, and was ordered detained without bail. Under New Hampshire RSA 597:2, courts may order preventive detention when there is probable cause to find a defendant poses a danger to another person or the public, a standard New Hampshire law ties directly to firearm-related domestic threats. Murphy is due back in the 9th Circuit Nashua District Court for a probable cause hearing on August 20.
Why the Charge Carries Felony Weight
Under RSA 631:4, criminal threatening ordinarily a misdemeanor is elevated to a Class B felony when someone uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon to terrorize another person, and legal analysts note that non-verbal threats — such as displaying or firing a gun on video — can satisfy that felony standard even without physical contact, per Tenn And Tenn, PA. A Class B felony conviction in New Hampshire carries a maximum sentence of up to seven years in state prison and a fine of up to $4,000 under RSA 651:2, II(b).
Because the case involves an alleged threat against a family member, it also falls under New Hampshire's domestic violence statutes. RSA 631:2-b requires mandatory judicial recording standards and a $50 assessment funding state victim services for offenses designated as domestic violence, and state law limits informal plea reductions on such recorded charges to prioritize victim safety, according to Naro Law.
A Pattern of No-Bail Domestic Cases in Nashua
Murphy's detention fits a broader pattern in Hillsborough County, where courts have repeatedly held suspects without bail in violent domestic cases this year. Hoodline previously reported on a Kinsley Street stabbing in which a woman was jailed without bail after a weapon-involved domestic dispute in June, and another Nashua case in March resulted in a father held without bail after a baby was found with dozens of broken bones.
The firearm from Murphy's videos remains unaccounted for, and the Nashua Police Department is asking anyone with information to call its Crime Line at 603-589-1665. Families facing active domestic threats can also reach Bridges: Domestic & Sexual Violence Support, which the City of Nashua lists as its primary resource for victims, through a 24-hour confidential crisis line at 603-883-3044.
Whether additional charges emerge, and what becomes of the still-missing pistol and the seized pickup truck, may become clearer at Murphy's August 20 probable cause hearing. Until then, the criminal threatening charge against him remains an accusation, not a finding of guilt.
