Police hunting an armed father-of-four for the suspected murder of his wife have discovered a plan to put a ‘hole in her head’ on his phone.
Aaron Pennington, 33, disappeared from family home in Massachusetts, moments before his wife Breanne, 30, was found dead with a shotgun wound to her face on Sunday morning.
A judge in Gardner, Massachusetts, has issued a fresh arrest warrant for the US Air Force veteran after investigators discovered a chilling note written just hours before her death.
‘Don’t say anything. Be quiet if she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray,’ it read.
‘Get on side of bed – very close proximity to head.
‘Put hole in her head.’
Aaron Pennington, 33, and his wife Breanne, 30, appeared to have a close and loving relationship in photos posted to social media
But the fresh arrest warrant details the chilling note found on Pennington’s cell phone
Police report the couple were grappling with ‘marital issues for quite some time’
Investigators said the couple was facing ‘marital issues for quite some time,’ with Breanne planning to move to Texas with the children to get away from her husband.
She was known to keep a gun at home for her protection, while he had struggled with ‘mental issues 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 neighbor’s house and told her their mother was crying in a bedroom, and they could not find their father.
Five minutes later, first responders arrived and discovered Breanne dead in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head.
Security footage from the neighbor showed Pennington driving off at 8.50am, before his four children left their Cherry Street home together 17 minutes later.
A hunter found Pennington’s white BMW sedan the following day abandoned about 1,500 feet down a wooded trail off Kenton Street near Camp Collier in Gardner.
‘He better turn himself in,’ Breanne’s sister Brooke Pertile said.
‘He needs to stand up for what he did, and turn himself in. And not be a coward. He needs to turn himself in. He needs to do it for the kids.’
Pennington spent eight years in the US Air Force as a ‘special missions aircraft maintainer’ and was working at Raytheon Missiles and Defense, where he also holds an ‘active secret clearance,’ according to his LinkedIn profile.
Pennington described himself as a ‘special missions aircraft maintainer’ and was working at Raytheon Missiles and Defense
The couple’s idyllic home in Cherry Street, where police found Breanne dead with a gunshot wound to her face in an upstairs bedroom
The 33-year-old veteran’s white BMW sedan was found abandoned down a trail in a wooded area not far from the family’s home town of Gardner
The couple’s four children aged – two, five, seven and nine – went to a neighbor’s house and told her their mother was crying in a bedroom, and they could not find their father
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’
Police believe Pennington has struggled with mental health issues and threatened suicide
The engineer is also accused of unlawfully possessing a firearm without a license to carry
Breanne ‘lit up the room like no other, any room that she walked in’ her sister said
Police have said the 6-foot 2-inch engineer is considered armed and dangerous with an illegally owned 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 people.’
Three shotgun cartridges were found in the couple’s bedroom and their children who ran for help are now reportedly in state care.
‘On the outside he was a very nice person,’ said Pertile sister who had spoken to her just three days before the shooting.
‘But he’s been struggling with some mental health issues. They just were getting worse.’
In a 2016 Facebook post, the veteran thanked his wife for all that 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 out there. You are truly amazing!’
He praised her for ‘always being patient’ and setting a great example for their children.
After news of her death broke, social media was flooded with posts commemorating Breanne’s life, with several women mentioning they knew her from an online group for expecting mothers.
State troopers swamped the woods outside Gardner where Pennington’s car was found
Police consider the father-of-four armed and dangerous, and have warned the public not to approach him
‘Imagine my shock when I was scrolling and said to myself ‘That looks like Breezy’s husband, what happened?’ just to find out he murdered her and ran away,’ one woman wrote.
‘I’m absolutely SICK over this and thinking of her four precious babies. Breezy Pennington was an amazing mom, hilarious friend, and a truly sweet soul.’
‘I am hurt, sad, frustrated, angry, and most of all confused why someone has to 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 4 beautiful children that we all know you loved sooooo much.’