Son of N.H. man killed in 2003 arrested, charged with murder

Authorities in Massachusetts arrested a man Tuesday and charged him with killing his father more than 20 years ago. 

Douglas Herlihy, 39, was arrested in Saugus and is being held without bail. He was charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Paul Herlihy in August 2003, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella’s office announced. Douglas Herlihy is expected to be arraigned in Essex County Superior Court and then extradited to New Hampshire. 

Formella’s office said that the arrest was the result of a collaborative effort between his office, New Hampshire State Police, and authorities in Massachusetts. But little information was provided on what led to the younger Herlihy’s arrest after more than two decades. 

Paul Herlihy was killed in his home on Nashua Street in Milford, New Hampshire, and an autopsy found that he died from blunt force trauma. He was 50. 

Douglas, who was 17 at the time, was detained by police in the immediate aftermath of his father’s death. New Hampshire police investigating the death alerted their counterparts in Massachusetts that they wanted to question Douglas about his father’s death. A brief manhunt ended in Douglas’s arrest. He was arrested on charges of theft, evading police, and other motor vehicle violations, The Boston Globe reported at the time. 

But Douglas was not named as a suspect in the homicide. His lawyer maintained at the time that Douglas fled from police because an officer pointed a gun at him, and that Douglas had nothing to do with his father’s death, the Associated Press reported at the time.

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