New HampshireDepartment of JusticeOffice of the Attorney General

News Release

For Immediate Release
July 24, 2022

Contact:
Michael S. Garrity, Director of Communications
michael.s.garrity@doj.nh.gov | (603) 931-9375

Benjamin J. Agati, Senior Assistant Attorney General
Benjamin.J.Agati@doj.nh.gov | (603) 419-0124

Meghan C. Hagaman, Assistant Attorney General

Arrest Made in Hooksett Homicide Investigation

Concord, NH – New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella, New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan Noyes, and Hooksett Police Chief Janet Bouchard announce that an arrest has been made in the suspicious death investigation that began in Hooksett this morning.

At approximately 12:08 A.M. on July 24, 2022, Hooksett Police received an incoming E911 call for a person laying partially in the roadway in the area of 66 Main Street in Hooksett, New Hampshire. Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered Jason Wirtz, age 45, laying partially in the roadway, unresponsive, and bleeding from his neck. He was transported to Elliot Hospital in Manchester, where he was pronounced deceased, and an autopsy earlier today identified his cause of death as a single stab wound to the neck, and the manner of death as homicide.

Dillon Sleeper, age 26, formerly of Franklin, New Hampshire, has been arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder for recklessly causing the death of Mr. Wirtz under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life, by stabbing him with a knife.

It is anticipated that Mr. Sleeper will be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord on Monday, July 25, 2022, at a time to be scheduled by the Court.

The charges and allegations against Mr. Sleeper are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

As investigators look into the timeline of events they are asking for the public's assistance. Anyone who observed any individual(s) walking on Main Street in Hooksett between Daniel Webster Highway and College Park Drive during the hours of 11:30 P.M. last night to 1:00 A.M. this morning, and anyone who drove across the Main Street Bridge in Hooksett during that same time period, is asked to please contact the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit tip line at (603) 628-8477 or New Hampshire State Police Dispatch at (603) 223-4381.

New Hampshire Department of Justice
1 Granite Place South | Concord, NH | 03301
Telephone: 603-271-3658