Will Lizzi Marriott Murder Case Move Forward Today?

After months of waiting to see when the murder case against Dover man charged with killing Elizabeth Marriott and dumping her body into the Piscataqua River, an indictment may happen either sometime today or early next week.

As of Thursday afternoon, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office did not file any additional motions seeking more time to investigate the case against Seth Mazzaglia of Dover, who is charged with second-degree murder. According to Strafford County Superior Court documents, the last motion filed by NH Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley in February gave prosecutors until April 18 to present their case.

Kearston Crutchfield, the Strafford County Superior Court case manager, said the grand jury was scheduled to sit on Thursday. She said indictments could be made public either later on Friday afternoon or early next week.

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

Hinckley had filed his motion seeking an extension on Jan. 29 and previously said state prosecutors wanted more time because “there is still follow up investigation that needs to be made.”

State prosecutors originally had 90 days to present their case after Mazzaglia waived probable cause on Oct. 26.

State prosecutors filed their first motion to extend the bind-over period on Jan. 7, which was subsequently approved by the court. As a result, they had until the end of February to present their case against Mazzaglia to a grand jury.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office alleges 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.