Arrest Affidavit Sheds New Light on Child Murder Case

As a Texas woman awaits possible indictment on charges she allegedly asphyxiated her 6-year-old son in a Hampton motel, new details have been released about the days leading to her arrest last month.

A heavily redacted version of the arrest affidavit for Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, has been released, and police allege in the document that McCrery said she knew "police were looking for her" when they located her in the Bay State on May 18.

Not much new information has been released, but the document does outline police activity starting from the morning of May 14, which is when 6-year-old Camden Hughes' body was discovered in a wooded area of Maine, to McCrery's arrest on May 18 on two counts of second-degree murder.

McCrery was located at a truck stop in Chelmsford, Mass., on the morning of May 18 after another motorist at the stop noticed a woman in a truck matching the description of the vehicle seen in the South Berwick, Maine, woods on May 14.

The affidavit states Massachusetts State Police then approached the truck -- a blue Toyota Tacoma, which had a "U.S. Navy Mom" license plate frame -- at the rest area as its driver was "getting out of her truck."

State Trooper Sharon Basteri introduced herself and asked the woman, whom police hadn't yet positively identified as McCrery, "how she was," to which the woman replied that she was "fine," according to the document.

Basteri then informed the woman, according to the affidavit, that her car "matched the description of a car that may have been involved 'in something up in Maine.'"

The following paragraph of the affidavit is redacted, although the next legible portion states that the woman identified herself as "Julianne Hughes McCrery." The several paragraphs that follow are also redacted, although the affidavit later states McCrery was brought into custody.

Camden Hughes is not mentioned once in the redacted version of the affidavit. It is still unclear why McCrery made the long trip from Texas to New England, and it is still unclear why she may have killed her soon.

McCrery was arraigned in Massachusetts on a fugitive from justice charge on May 19 before being transported on the same day to Portsmouth District Court to face two alternating second-degree murder charges.

One count theorizes that McCrery knowingly murdered Camden, while the other theorizes that she acted recklessly.

The Stone Gable Inn, located on Lafayette Road in Hampton, has been at the center of the New Hampshire portion of the investigation, and is believed to be where McCrery killed her son.

McCrery has been held without bail in the Strafford County House of Corrections since May 27, a day after she waived a probable cause hearing in Hampton District Court.

McCrery was originally held in Rockingham County following her New Hampshire arraignment, although she was transferred to Strafford due to Rockingham's limited female holding facilities.

The case has been bound over to Rockingham County Superior Court for possible indictment by grand jury. Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell has told Patch not to expect an indictment or new developments in the case anytime soon. 

The arrest affidavit was unsealed by Rockingham Superior Court after the Union Leader filed a motion to do so. Rockingham Superior Court will hold a hearing on Aug. 3 to determine whether the full documents will become public, according to court staff.