Winchendon woman arrested for third violation of harassment prevention order after leaving notes on neighbor’s door

WINCHENDON — On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at around 4:15 p.m., Theresa Suzor arrived at the Winchendon police station to report that Muriel Martel had violated the harassment prevention order she had against her, according to Officer Justin Smith of the Winchendon Police Department.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Justin Smith and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

“I spoke with Theresa in interview room one at 4:25 p.m.,” said Officer Smith. “Theresa told me that sometime between 4:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m., her dog began barking at her apartment door. When Theresa looked through the peephole in her door, she saw Muriel writing things on the notepad she keeps on the outside of her door.”

Suzor told Officer Smith that after Martel wrote the notes, she walked upstairs to her apartment.

According to police, Muriel Martel, 61, is a resident of 75 Hyde Park Drive, Apt. #H, Winchendon, MA. The Winchendon Police Department’s arrest report states that Martel is divorced and disabled.

“Theresa then came to the station right away with the pages Muriel allegedly wrote on to report the violation of the harassment order,” Officer Smith said. “The pages had various words written on them, including: ‘PAY,’ ‘1000’s OF $?,’ ‘MY $?,’ ‘CALL ME I’VE BEEN WAITING,’ ‘MY CREDIT,’ ‘FT + DV.’”

Suzor told Officer Smith that the notes referred to an incident late last year when Muriel allegedly accused her of stealing her purse and credit cards.

“The Winchendon Police Department has had several reports from Theresa and David Connor, the head of the Winchendon Housing Authority who runs Hyde Park Drive, from 2024 regarding harassment from Muriel,” Officer Smith said.

Officer Smith stated that, according to a 2024 report by Officer Joseph Champney, Muriel was either seen or suspected of writing on the notepad outside Theresa’s door.

“The handwriting on the pages in that report were similar to the handwriting on the pages Theresa brought today,” Officer Smith said. “It is documented in many of the 2024 reports at this department that Muriel has had a decline in her mental health.”

After speaking with Suzor, Officer Smith and Officer Dylan Mei went to Muriel’s apartment around 6:00 p.m. to speak with her.

“As we entered the building, I saw the notepad on Theresa’s door which matched the pages she brought in,” Officer Smith noted. “I knocked on Muriel’s door on the third floor and she answered. I asked Muriel if she knew if there was anything on Theresa’s door and she told me no, she does not go out that way. I told Muriel about the allegation Theresa made. Muriel said she was not home and it was not her who wrote on the notepad. I asked Muriel why Theresa would make the allegation and she said she did not know, and said they had just finished with court.”

Officer Smith stated that Martel appeared visibly nervous during their conversation, noting that she was shaking, wringing her hands, and picking at her fingernails—behaviors consistent with nervousness and anxiety based on his training and experience.

“Muriel told me she had video on her phone of her walking in and walking out of her apartment today,” Officer Smith said. “Muriel started to walk inside and I asked if I could also come in. Muriel said yes. I asked Muriel where she would have been within the time frame this allegedly occurred, and she said probably at home sitting in her car for some time watching parts of the Karen Read trial. Muriel denied writing on Theresa’s notepad.

A video on Martel’s phone, time-stamped at 4:14 p.m. that day, showed what appeared to be Martel exiting her vehicle, entering through the back door (opposite Suzor’s apartment), and walking up the stairs to her apartment door. Officer Smith confirmed it was the back door by identifying a bucket near the entrance, which was later seen when he exited through it.

“There was a second video time stamped earlier in the day, but it showed nothing but a black screen,” Officer Smith said. “Due to this lack of video showing where Muriel was within the reported time frame, I could not disprove Theresa’s claims.”

Officer Smith said that Martel wanted to compare the handwriting on the notes to her handwriting.

“I had Muriel write ‘PAY as big as she could, and it did not look similar (though I believed this was done intentionally) to the handwriting on the notes,” Officer Smith said. “Muriel said Theresa made this all up, and started to question if people are writing notes pretending to be her. Muriel is certain a lot of other people know of the trouble between her and Theresa.”

Officer Smith informed Martel that he had probable cause she violated the harassment order, citing Theresa’s alleged eyewitness account of her outside the apartment door.

“I allowed Muriel to call her mother on scene to make arrangements with her parents to care for her cat,” Officer Smith said. Officer Mei also gathered Muriel’s medications at her request.

“Due to Muriel’s compliance and age, I did not handcuff her,” Officer Smith said. “I instead walked with her to my cruiser as to not make a spectacle through the housing complex of her arrest.”

According to Officer Smith, Martel was searched for weapons, placed in a cruiser, and transported to the Winchendon Police Department, where she was booked, searched again, had her property inventoried, and was afforded all applicable rights before being secured in cell #1 at 6:46 p.m.

Bail Commissioner David Weiss was contacted and set Martel’s bail at personal recognizance. She was released at 9:16 p.m., after which Officer Smith transported her back to her residence.

According to police, Martel allegedly violated the Harassment Prevention Order (HPO), which was served to her in-hand on September 21, 2024, by writing on Suzor’s notepad and being within twelve feet of her residence while doing so. As a result, Martel was charged with Violation of Harassment Prevention Order.

Authorities noted that Martel should have been aware of modifications made to the order on September 30, 2024, as she was present at the court hearing where the changes were made. Additionally, she had already been charged twice for violating the order since its modification.

Martel was arraigned in Winchendon District Court on Jan. 1, 2025. Following her arraignment, she was released on personal recognizance under the condition that she stay away from and not contact Suzor.

Martel’s next court date was a pretrial hearing scheduled for February 18, 2025.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from January, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.

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