Judge in 4 year-old murder case aims to pick up pace

Shawn Cunningham
© 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC

More than six years after truck driver Roberto Fonseca-Rivera was shot and killed on Rt. 103 in Rockingham and more than four years after Jozsef Piri was charged with 2nd degree murder in the crime, the justice system continues to grind slowly toward a trial, which lawyers on both sides and the judge in the case say may take one to two months to conduct.

Last Friday, Windham Superior Court Judge John Treadwell held a hearing on a defense motion to dismiss, in which defense attorney Adam Hescock said “countervailing evidence” would chip away at the state’s case.  He cited several examples including:

• 

  Defense attorney Adam Hescock tries to chip away at the state’s evidence.

  A 9mm bullet was recovered from the scene. Hescock said the state tested for rifling characteristics using a gun that was not considered the weapon suspected in the shooting. That gun’s barrel and slide are missing and Hescock said that the rifling on the bullet could have come from a number of other guns manufactured by several companies.

• While acknowledging that Piri has admitted to driving through Chester on his way home from a second home in Londonderry to Connecticut on that afternoon and that an FBI license plate reader on I-91 was able to identify Piri’s truck, Hescock says there is no evidence that the truck in the video was Piri’s. He asserted that the state “extrapolated back” Piri’s identity from the federal plate reader.
• The defense also questioned the analysis of data showing that Piri’s cell phone had been used to make a number of searches the afternoon following the shooting on subjects regarding crime news from Chester and Rockingham. Hescock told Treadwell that the analysis didn’t include private searches to make a large enough sample of call data to say whether these were unusual for Piri.

Judge Treadwell noted that under the rules of criminal procedure, he is obliged to look at the evidence “in the light most favorable to the state” and that “modifying evidence” is excluded in making a determination of whether the state has met the burden of proof to bring the case. The judge repeatedly responded that credibility of the evidence that contravenes the state’s case is “ultimately for the fact finders determination.” The fact finders in this case will be the jury. Treadwell said the purpose of the rule is to “avoid judicial determinations of credibility.”

Saying that “this case has been pending for more than four years,” Treadwell stressed that he wanted to get the case moving in the next couple of weeks with findings on the record on the motion to dismiss. If he denies the motion to dismiss, Treadwell said he would be scheduling hearings for motions to exclude particular evidence.

In response to a Treadwell question, Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown said that the prosecution’s discovery is complete, with more than 50 depositions taken.

Brown estimated that the trial could take a month or longer. If Fonseca-Rivera’s family members want to participate, they would need a translator, which could double the trial length.

Brown also said a long trial schedule should include either partial day on Fridays or Fridays off completely to give jury members time to continue with their lives.

As of Monday April 6, the criminal division of the Windham County Superior Court’s calendar shows another motion hearing set for April 22.

Telegraph articles about the legal proceedings around the shooting:

• Boston trucker apparently shot dead on Rt. 103
• Driver’s death ruled homicide; police seek video
• Police press for more clues in Rt. 103 homicide
• Police ask public to ID pickup truck
• Police arrest Londonderry 2nd-homeowner in 2019 Rockingham murder
• Murder suspect returned to Vermont, to be arraigned Monday
• Rt. 103 murder suspect to be released on bail
• Judge rejects Piri’s defense subpoena in Rt. 103 murder case
• Prosecutor concerned over ‘lingering’ Rt. 103 murder case