Concord, NH – Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Manchester Police Chief Carlo T. Capano announce that Mark Heath of Manchester, New Hampshire was sentenced on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, in Hillsborough County Superior Court – Northern District for the murder of two-year-old Jacob Pelletier.

On November 6, 2019, a jury convicted Mr. Heath of second-degree murder for recklessly causing Jacob's death under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life by inflicting blunt force trauma to Jacob's abdomen. Because Jacob was under 13 years of age at the time of his death, a fact that the jury found true along with its verdict, the minimum mandatory sentence for Mr. Heath's conduct was 35 years to life in the New Hampshire State Prison.

Mr. Heath was sentenced to 45 years to life with the possibility of five years suspended if he meets certain conditions.

This case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan G. Morrell and Assistant Attorney General Heather Cherniske of the Criminal Justice Bureau.