By Michael Mortensen
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
GILFORD — An investigation into former Police Chief Anthony Bean Burpee has ended after investigators concluded that the evidence collected during the probe was insufficient to bring criminal charges.
The state Attorney General’s Office’s conclusion of the six-month investigation was announced in a letter to Gilford Town Administrator Scott Dunn.
The letter, signed by Senior Assistant Attorney General Timothy Sullivan, said the AG’s Public Integrity Unit found information early in the investigation to support there was a “reasonable basis” to justify that further investigation could lead to “probable cause that a crime was committed.”
That initial conclusion prompted the unit to launch a formal investigation into Bean Burpee’s actions, the details of which have not been released.
The formal investigation, however, concluded there was “insufficient evidence to meet the State’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chief Burpee committed a crime,” Sullivan wrote.
The results of the investigation will be sent to the town’s lawyer, Naomi Buttlerfield. But neither any of that information, nor what may have prompted the probe by the AG’s office have been made public.
On Monday, Michael Garrity, the communications director for the AG’s office, said it would not comment beyond what was stated in the letter to Dunn.
The Daily Sun reached out Monday afternoon to Bean Burpee’s attorney, Charles Keefe, for comment.
Dunn declined to give any information about an investigation that the town had conducted into Bean Burpee, who had been police chief since 2014.
“It’s a personnel matter,” he said, explaining his refusal to say anything about the matter.
The AG’s investigation into Bean Burpee was first reported in mid-January. In launching the probe, the Public Integrity Unit directed the town to turn over material that may have been collected during any internal investigation.
Bean Burpee was placed on administrative leave in January and then submitted his resignation effective April 13 without comment.
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