Mazzaglia Waives Arraignment in Murder Case

A Dover man charged with murdering a University of New Hampshire student last fall and then dumping her body into the Piscataqua River has waived his arraignment

According to Strafford County Superior Court records, Seth Mazzaglia, 30, of Dover chose to waive his court appearance on May 1 through his defense counsel, Attorney Joachim Barth of the New Hampshire Public Defender's office, for a video arraignment that was scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. By waiving his arraignment, Mazzaglia has been formally charged after he was indicted on four new charges that he allegedly killed Elizabeth Marriott on Oct. 9, 2012. He also entered not guilty pleas to the four charges.

Mazzaglia's case will now be scheduled for a pre-trial conference to determine when the trial and jury selection will take place. Meanwhile, requests to unseal additional records in the case made by the Union Leader and Foster's Daily Democrat were denied by the court because the records are actually stored at the 7th Circuit Court in Dover where Mazzaglia was first arraigned following his arrest last fall.

Mazzaglia was indicted on four counts for causing the death of Marriott in his apartment.  The grand jury handed up the indictments against Mazzaglia on April 18.

Mazzaglia was indicted on two counts of first degree murder for allegedly strangling Marriott while committing a felonious sexual assault, according to court documents. Mazzaglia was also indicted on a second degree murder charge for "recklessly" causing Marriott's death, according to court documents.

Mazzaglia was also indicted for conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution after state prosecutors allege that he and his girlfriend, Kathryn McDonough, 19, of Portsmouth took several steps to eliminate any physical evidence that Marriott was in his apartment on Oct. 9.

On April 10, a Rockingham County Grand Jury indicted McDonough of Portsmouth, for three felony counts of witness tampering, hindering apprehension or prosecution and conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution related to Marriott's murder.

Mazzaglia continues to held without bail at the Strafford County Jail in Dover.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office had alleged that Mazzaglia strangled or suffocated Marriott on Oct 9 in his Dover apartment. Marriott had attended a class at the University of New Hampshire that night and headed to Dover to see some friends.

Authorities launched a massive search for Marriott's body that began in October, but no trace of her body has yet been found. Some of the areas where New Hampshire Marine Patrol and New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officers focused their search were around Peirce Island in Portsmouth and off Fox Point in Newington.