The search for a Gardner man suspected of killing his wife will resume in the same area where his abandoned vehicle was located days after she was found dead inside the couple’s home.
Massachusetts State Police will resume its search of Camp Collier and the surrounding area for Aaron Pennington on Tuesday morning, the department told MassLive.
The search will be by foot using K-9 units and possibly the Air Wing, MSP said. Crews will not be returning to Lake Wampanoag, where dive teams were sent Friday in the ongoing search for Pennington.
Pennington, 33, has not been located as of Oct. 31, after officers found Breanne Pennington, 30, shot dead in the face in the couple’s home at 42 Cherry St. on Sunday, Oct. 22, officials said.
The couple’s children, aged 2, 5, 7 and 9, were at the home and ran to the neighbor’s house “scared because they could not find their father and their mother was in her bedroom crying,” an affidavit read.
Around 9:14 a.m. on Oct. 22, Kerri McDermott, a neighbor of the Penningtons, called 911 after the couple’s four children came over to her house, documents stated.
Within five minutes, police arrived and found Breanne Pennington in bed, in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to her face, court documents said. She was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. and there was nobody else found at the home.
A murder warrant was issued for Aaron Pennington three days later, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.’s office announced Wednesday.
Pennington was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force from 2015 until 2022, and had transferred to the Air Force Reserves in the middle of 2022, Air Force spokesperson Laurel Falls said.
He’d officially “separated from the service altogether” on Feb. 17, 2023, Falls stated.
Pennington’s LinkedIn listed Raytheon Technologies, the missile weapon and military-grade defense company, as his most recent place of employment.
A spokesperson for Raytheon Technologies confirmed to MassLive there had been an employee named Aaron Pennington who had left in March, but would not confirm whether they were the same person being searched for by law enforcement.
According to documents from Gardner District Court, Breanne Pennington had wanted to move away from her husband to Texas with her children.
Following interviews and a video surveillance canvass of the neighborhood, investigators determined that the Penningtons were having marital issues for a while, court documents said. He had mental health issues for a while and had threatened suicide, documents state.
She was also “known to have a firearm at the residence for her protection,” court documents read, but neither had a license to carry firearms in Massachusetts. After a search warrant was issued, a gun was not found in the home. Three spent shell casings were found in the bedroom Breanne was in.
An arrest warrant, obtained by WCVB, which shared much of the same information detailed in a Gardner District Court affidavit obtained by MassLive on Monday, included discovery made after a search warrant was issued to look into certain contents on Pennington’s phone.
“After reviewing a limited portion of the cell phone’s content, investigators learned that there was a note from (7:04 p.m.) on Saturday, Oct. 21, that stated: ‘Don’t say anything. Be (quiet.) If she wakes up just say you’re getting nasal spray.’”
“Get on side of bed — very close proximity to head,” the note continues. “Put hole in her head.”
Massachusetts State Police and Gardner police continue to search for Aaron Pennington. He is described as a white male with blonde hair, blue eyes, 6 feet 2 inches and around 175 pounds.
No one should approach Pennington as he should be considered armed and dangerous, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Anyone who sees Pennington or the suspected vehicle should call 911, Gardner police at 978-632-5600 or Massachusetts State Police at 508-829-8236. In addition, anyone near the woods at Camp Collier with trail cameras or surveillance footage is urged send what they have to Massachusetts State Police or Gardner police
The investigation into the death is ongoing by State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office and the Gardner Police Department.
