Videos show confrontations, fights preceding deadly shooting outside Manchester bar
Mar. 3—Video surveillance cameras and cellphone video have captured four confrontations that preceded the fatal shooting of Manchester resident Timothy Pouliot outside a Manchester bar in late January.
The videos show a narrative that begins with a shove inside the GOAT Bar and Grill on Jan. 27. They end with Salem resident John Delee shooting Pouliot on Old Granite Street.
It involved two groups of friends — one from Manchester, one from Salem — that did not know one another, police have said.
Prosecutors screened the videos in Hillsborough County Superior Court last month to convince a judge to deny bail and pretrial release for Delee. The videos are available at the links below.
At the center of each video is Delee.
In Exhibit 1, Delee shoves Pouliot at the bar. At the 1:15 mark, Delee, who stands 6-foot-6 and is wearing a gray beanie cap with a black stripe, approaches Pouliot. They speak, eventually Delee shoves Pouliot and bouncers quickly intervene. According to testimony during the hearing, Pouliot had told a female friend of Delee's that he was a professional fighter and wanted to knock out Delee. bit.ly/3EUNsnO
By the 3:34 mark, Delee is standing on a ramp in the upper right corner of the frame. Pouliot walks by him, and within seconds, a Pouliot friend identified as Michael Mendoza begins a fight with Delee.
In Exhibit 2, a cellphone video captures bouncers restraining Delee, who is asking who just punched him in the face. A Manchester police officer, hired by the bar, participates. Bouncers escort Delee outside the bar. bit.ly/3INMxa2
Exhibit 5 shows Delee outside the bar, his arms outstretched at one point. Police have said he was angry and heckling people. Around 1:30 a.m., Pouliot's friend Trenton Nash approaches Delee, who punches him twice in the face. Around 1:50 a.m., Mendoza exits a parked car and approaches. He points what police have said is a pepper spray container at Delee, who pulls a handgun, drops it, then picks it up, racks it and points it a Mendoza, who retreats. Delee's friends intervene and he walks down the street, gun in hand. bit.ly/3SOyRQs
Exhibit 4 shows the same scene, but from two angles and with audio. bit.ly/3IMtjBy
Exhibit 9 shows a cellphone video, widely circulated online, that shows Pouliot reaching up to punch Delee, and Delee immediately responding with gunfire. Police say he shot Pouliot eight times. bit.ly/3YezJ2d
"This was not a fight, this was retribution. He killed out of anger, not necessity, and the law does not allow that," homicide prosecutor Rachel Harrington said during the bail hearing.
Delee's lawyer has filed notices that he plans to claim self-defense.
"It (knowledge of the gun) didn't stop Mr. Pouliot," said defense lawyer Benjamin Faulkner. "Unprovoked by any physical contact, Mr. Pouliot punched John Delee in the face."
The New Hampshire Union Leader obtained the videos through the court system, which has moved to a new evidence retention system, CaseLines, that makes it easier to share evidence, including videos, introduced in court trials and hearings.
