Husband, father of Northfield murder victims grateful for support

Aug. 8—As authorities continue the investigation into the murder of a Northfield mother and her two young sons last week, the victim's husband is commenting publicly for the first time since the killings.

In a Facebook post Sunday, Sean Sweeney thanked everyone for their outreach and support since his wife Kassandra, 25, and sons Benjamin Michael, 4, and Mason Lee, 1, were found dead inside their home on Wethersfield Drive on Aug. 3.

"While I still am unable to confirm anything as to what happened and who is responsible, I'm beyond words to those who just know better and are stopping my name from being dragged through the mud and for making sure the rest of the world knows that my beautiful wife was the most amazing, caring, sweetest all around good person that anyone could ever meet and just how much she loved our boys," wrote Sweeney. "It is our job now to keep their memories alive."

Sweeney is "beyond devastated" and being assisted by victim-witness professionals, a homicide prosecutor said Friday afternoon.

Homicide prosecutor Geoffrey Ward said the shootings of Kassandra Sweeney and her sons were not random.

Officials have repeatedly said all parties involved are accounted for and the public faces no danger in connection with the killings.

"The father is somebody we have been in contact with and who has been very cooperative and helpful in this investigation," Ward said. "He is obviously beyond devastated."

No arrests have been made, and no warrants have been issued, he said. "I have not said we know who did it," Ward said. "I've said that we have identified all the parties involved."

Officials said they have ruled out any connection to the double homicide of Stephen and Djeswende "Wendy" Reid in Concord last April. No arrests have been made in that case.

Sweeney and her children were killed sometime Wednesday, officials said, but a specific timeframe hasn't been shared. Police arrived at the couple's home at 11:33 a.m. Aug. 3 in response to a 911 call, Ward said.

All three victims were found inside the house, but officials haven't said which rooms they were discovered in.

Autopsies performed last week showed each died of a single fatal gunshot wound.

"They will be forever loved and missed and forever in my heart," Sean Sweeney wrote on Facebook Sunday. "Thanks again to everyone the love and support I have gotten from you has truly been what has kept me going."

On Saturday, Northfield police and state investigators announced they were searching several areas around Northfield and Tilton in connection with the deaths.

In a statement, the Attorney General's Office said investigators did not have new information, but would search around Wethersfield Drive along with Shaker Road and Tilton Road in Northfield, Laconia Road in Tilton, and around the Interstate 93 exit ramps to Tilton.

On Sunday, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office said there were no new developments in the case.

"(The) investigation remains very active and ongoing," department spokesman Michael Garrity said in a text message.

An online fundraising effort in support of Sean Sweeney approached $39,000 as of Sunday afternoon, almost four times the $10,000 goal initially established by Alizabeth Dawson. Dawson identified herself as the cousin of Kassandra Sweeney, 25.

She asked for donations to help Sean take care of living expenses and for funeral expenses.