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Gardner murder featured on ‘America’s Most Wanted’
The criminal justice show featured a 2023 Gardner murder in its latest episode Monday.
“America’s Most Wanted” featured a 2023 Massachusetts murder in its latest episode Monday.
Breanne “Breezy” Pennington was a 30-year-old mother of four living in Gardner with her husband, Aaron, when she died on Oct. 22, 2023, from a gunshot wound to her face. The primary suspect in the case is Aaron, who was charged with murder and is still on the run.
Here are four takeaways from the case’s spotlight on “America’s Most Wanted”:
The Penningtons early life
Breanne rode horses when she was younger, and she got her “Breezy” nickname from her blond hair flowing in the wind while riding, her aunt Brenda Hull recalled in the episode. She was a “very active” member of The Church Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where she met Aaron.
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“This tall, blond boy walks in, and Breanne said, ‘That one is mine,’” Hull said.
The two got married seven months later and had their first child soon after. Aaron enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 2015 and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where the couple had two more children.
“In the early years, they were so happy,” Hull said. “But I do believe in Okinawa was the start of some trouble.”
Aaron was discharged from the Air Force in 2021, got a job at the Waltham-based defense contractor Raytheon, and moved to Gardner and into a new church community.
Aaron Pennington’s mental health struggle
Robert Corbett, a church leader with the Mormon church, got to know the Pennington family when they first moved to the community. He said Aaron confided in him with his family history of and struggle with depression.
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“During our conversations, there was a darkness,” Corbett said. “He spent all the time talking to me about his worries and his anxieties.”
Aaron told Corbett about how his wife Breanne started getting tattoos and becoming interested in tarot cards — things he felt were moving her further away from her faith, as told by Corbett.
The show recounted police records that detailed disturbances at the family’s house at 42 Cherry St., with comments of Aaron “acting erratically” and Breanne concerned about his mental health.
While Aaron left to visit family in California, he sent several messages to Breanne asking to fix their marriage after she indicated she would move out with their children to Texas. On Oct. 20, 2023, Aaron came home early, and Breanna called the police about a restraining order because she felt unsafe.
Breanne died two days later, and police were called to the home after her children ran to a neighbor’s house.
Where is Aaron Pennington?
Aaron is believed to have barricaded the couple’s bedroom door, shot Breanne with a gun, and fled through their second-story window, Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant Robert Carr said in the episode.
Police found Aaron’s phone and accessed a note that said: “Don’t say anything. Be quiet If she wakes up, just say you’re getting nasal spray. Get on side of bed – very close proximity to head. Put hole in her head.”
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“And that is the smoking gun,” Carr said.
Aaron’s white BMW left the family’s driveway that morning, and the car was found 4 miles north on Camp Collier Road on Oct. 23, 2023.
“It appears that the car got stuck,” State Police Lt. John Sullivan said. “It’s not really an area that you would drive to … it feels like he just disappeared.”
Callahan Walsh, the son of longtime showrunner John Walsh, said since Aaron is an Air Force veteran and mechanic, he could be working in aviation or automotive repair. Walsh also said Mormon communities in Southern California, where his family lives, or Salt Lake City, Utah, could be taking him in.
Aaron is 34 years old, 6 feet, 2 inches tall, about 175 pounds, and has blue eyes. Those who know of his whereabouts were asked by the show to call 1-866-AMW-TIPS. Callahan Walsh said not to approach Aaron, as he is considered “armed and dangerous.”
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