Police have released a new photo of Aaron Pennington, suspected of killing his wife, who was found dead Sunday morning with a gunshot wound to her head.
The new image released Thursday shows Pennington as captured by a Ring doorbell camera and is watermarked as captured on October 11.
It is the third image released of the man authorities are hunting after the body of his wife, Breanne Pennington, 30, was found on their bed Sunday morning at their home at 42 Cherry Street, Gardener, Massachusetts.
She had at least one visible gunshot wound to the head, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, and casings from three bullets were found in the home, but no gun.
A judge in Gardner has issued a new arrest warrant for the U.S. Air Force veteran after investigators discovered a chilling note on his phone just hours before his wife’s death.
The new image released Thursday shows Pennington as captured by a Ring doorbell camera and is watermarked as captured on October 11
Breanne Pennington, 30, was found shot to death in the bed Sunday morning at the couple’s home at 42 Cherry Street, Gardener, Massachusetts.
But the new arrest warrant details the chilling note found on Pennington’s cell phone
‘Don’t say anything. If she wakes up, be quiet, just tell her you’re getting nasal spray,” the note said.
‘Stand on the side of the bed – very close to the head. Make a hole in her head.’
Investigators said the couple had been experiencing “marital problems” for some time, with Breanne planning to move to Texas with the children to get away from her husband.
It was known that she kept a gun at home for protection, while he was struggling with “mental problems and had threatened suicide.”
The alarm was raised just before 9.15am when the couple’s children – aged two, five, seven and nine – went to a neighbour’s house and told her that their mother was crying in a bedroom and that they could not find their father find.
Five minutes later, first responders arrived and found Breanne dead in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head.
The neighbor’s security footage showed Pennington driving away at 8.50am, before his four children left their Cherry Street home together 17 minutes later.
A hunter found Pennington’s white BMW sedan abandoned the next day about a quarter mile away on a wooded trail off Kenton Street near Camp Collier in Gardner.
Pennington described himself as a “special mission aircraft maintainer” and worked at Raytheon Missiles and Defense
The couple’s idyllic home on Cherry Street, where police found Breanne dead with a gunshot wound to her face in an upstairs bedroom
According to police, the couple had been experiencing marital problems for some time
The 33-year-old veteran’s white BMW sedan was found abandoned on a path in a wooded area not far from the family’s hometown of Gardner
The couple’s social media pages showed an apparently close bond between Pennington and his four children
Sister Brook Pertile said Breanne lived for their children and was a “very loving, caring, compassionate woman” who “always saw the best in everything and people.”
“He better turn himself in,” Breanne’s sister Brooke Pertile said.
‘He must stand up for what he has done and turn himself in. And don’t be a coward. He must turn himself in. He has to do it for the children.’
Pennington spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force as a “special mission aircraft maintainer” and worked at Raytheon Missiles and Defense, where he also has an “active classified clearance,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
Police have said the 6ft tall engineer is considered armed and dangerous with an illegally possessed firearm and have warned people not to approach him.
Pertile said her sister lived for their children and was a “very loving, caring, compassionate woman” who “always saw the best in everything and in people.”
Three shotgun shells were found in the couple’s bedroom and their children who ran for help are now reportedly in state care.
“From the outside, he was a very nice person,” said Pertile, who had spoken to her sister just three days before the shooting.
“But he’s dealing with some mental health issues. It just got worse.’
Police believe Pennington is struggling with mental health issues and has threatened suicide
The engineer is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm without a permit to carry
Breanne “lighted up the room like no other, every room she walked into,” her sister said
State troopers swarmed the woods outside Gardner where Pennington’s car was found
Police consider the father of four to be armed and dangerous and have warned the public not to approach him
In a 2016 Facebook post, the veteran thanked his wife for everything she did for the family.
“You have the most selfless outlook and are so dedicated to making us happy,” he wrote. We appreciate you as the hardest working mother and wife there is. You’re truly amazing!’
He praised her for “always being patient” and being a good example for their children.
After news of her death emerged, social media was flooded with posts commemorating Breanne’s life, with several women saying they knew her from an online group because she was pregnant.
“Imagine my shock when I was scrolling and said to myself, ‘That looks like Breezy’s husband, what happened?’ just to find out he killed her and ran away,” one woman wrote.
“I am absolutely SICK about this and thinking of her four precious babies. Breezy Pennington was an amazing mother, a hilarious friend and a truly sweet soul.”
“I’m hurt, sad, frustrated, angry and most of all confused as to why anyone should take someone else’s life because they are unhappy,” another friend wrote.
“We all want justice for you and want nothing but the best for your four beautiful children that we all know you loved so much.”