Elijah Lewis, Tortured And Starved To Death In Merrimack House

NASHUA, NH — The Hillsborough County South Superior courtroom was filled with Merrimack Police, NH State Police, and the family of Elijah Lewis as Joseph Stapf entered a guilty plea in connection to the investigation into his death on Thursday.

Elijah Lewis suffered almost a year of torture, beatings, and starvation at the hands of his mother, Danielle Dauphinais, and her boyfriend Joseph Stapf before his undersized body finally succumbed to one last beating, Assistant Attorney General Bethany Durand said at Stapf’s plea and sentencing hearing.

Stapf, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter, second-degree assault, falsifying evidence, and witness tampering resulting from a negotiated plea agreement that will send him to the New Hampshire State Prison for Men to serve between 22 and 45 years in the negotiated deal.

Danielle Dauphinais remains held at the Hillsborough County House Of Corrections and has not faced trial for the murder of the child.

Authorities began their investigation in Merrimack when DCYF could not verify where Elijah was or his physical condition. Dauphinais and Stepf fled New Hampshire when the investigation began. The woods and water around Sunset Drive, where the boy lived, were extensively searched for days. Several agencies also attempted to locate Dauphinais and Stepf, who were eventually found in New York.

Elijah’s badly beaten body was found in the woods in Abington, Massachusetts, after investigators used cell phone evidence and other investigative methods to find him.

In court, at the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that Elijah’s body, clothes, toys, and other belongings had been placed in a tote and stored outside the Sunset Drive address for days. When the couple fled New Hampshire, they took the totes and placed them in the vehicle they left in. According to testimony, Dauphinais waited in the vehicle while Stapf dug a shallow grave and placed Elijah in it.

In a statement made in court, Stapf said: “I never meant or wanted any of this to happen to Elijah. Elijah deserved to be loved.”

Dauphinais, 36, is facing multiple charges concerning the murder of her son, including one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.

The cause of Elijah’s death was violence and neglect, including facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment, and pressure ulcers, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts.

Elijah weighed 19 pounds when he died. The average 5-year-old boy weighs 40 pounds. At one point, in September 2021, Stapf grew concerned about a rotting hole in the boy’s back.

Stapf was led out of court by Hillsborough County Sherriff and showed no emotion as he was walked out in shackles and handcuffs.