DURHAM, N.H. — A New Hampshire woman was legally justified in using deadly force for self-defense when she fatally stabbed her husband inside their Durham home in August, the attorney general has concluded.
Kristin Talcott, 41, will not face any charges in the stabbing death of her husband, Alexander Talcott, on Aug. 26, 2023, after her husband reportedly attacked her with a kitchen knife during a confrontation in their master bedroom, Attorney General John Formella said in a statement on Thursday.
Alexander Talcott, 41, suffered a fatal stab wound to the neck during a physical altercation inside the couple’s home on Bennett Road while their children slept in another room, authorities said.
Formella made the determination based on a months-long investigation into Alexander Talcott’s death, which was ruled a homicide. That investigation included witness interviews, the 911 call placed by Kristin Talcott, police reports, photographs, and physical evidence, Formella said.
In a 16-page report released Thursday, Formella detailed the moments leading up to the fatal stabbing at the single-family home where the couple lived with their three young children.
The couple, having been married for 17 years, were having marital troubles arising in part from financial problems in the months before the fatal stabbing, the report states.
“During this time, Mr. Talcott had been acting increasingly erratically towards his wife, including sending her text messages alluding to his desire to commit suicide. As a result of these issues, Mrs. Talcott actively had explored separating from Mr. Talcott and living, with the children, with family members in Massachusetts,” the report states.
On Aug. 25, 2023, hours before the fatal stabbing, Kristin Talcott went to sleep in the area of the house where the children slept, the report states. She had with her a cannister of pepper spray, which she carried out of growing concern of her husband’s behavior.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2023, Alex Talcott woke up his wife asking to talk with her, the report states. She agreed, and followed him to their master bedroom, which was in an area of the house separate from where the children slept.
In the master bedroom, the couple sat on the bed, and Alex Talcott “placed an arm around his wife and told her how much he loved her and the kids,” the report states. “He then informed her in substance that he had found notes that she had written, which among other information discussed how to obtain a temporary restraining order against him.” She had kept the notes in her handbag.
Alexander Talcott “told Mrs. Talcott in substance that he would not let her and the children leave him, and pulled out a kitchen knife, which he proceeded to use to inflict cuts along his wife’s arms,” the report states. “While Mr. Talcott was assaulting his wife, she was able to take out the pepper spray she was carrying and spray him. Mr. Talcott fell back in the bed and dropped the knife, and Mrs. Talcott grabbed it and stabbed him in the neck, letting go of the knife when she did so.”
“Although Mr. Talcott was injured, he tried to assure his wife that he would change and explained that he was going to ‘get this fixed,’” the report states. “When Mrs. Talcott told her husband that he was ‘crazy,’ he attacked her again, pushing her against a wall and jabbing at her with the knife, which he had reseized.”
After a struggle, Kristin Talcott “was able to regain control of the knife, and stabbed her husband in the neck again,” the report states.
Alex Talcott “stumbled into an adjacent bathroom. Mrs. Talcott remained in the bedroom, watching her husband out of fear that if she tried to leave the bedroom he would pursue her,” the report states.
When her husband eventually fell to the floor, Kristin Talcott ran to her cellphone, in another area of the house, and called 911, the report states. Police responded to the residence about 10 minutes later.
When officers arrived, they initially encountered Kristin Talcott.
“She appeared stunned and distraught, she had several bleeding wounds on her body, and her clothes were stained with apparent blood,” the report states.
Officers also found Alexander Talcott dead on the floor of the master bathroom, wearing shorts and a longsleeved pullover, the report states.
Kristin Talcott was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her wounds, which included “multiple lacerations to her arms, hands, abdomen, shoulders, chest, and neck.” None of the children witnessed the altercation, or were injured, the report states.
Alexander Talcott, an attorney, graduated from Dartmouth College and Notre Dame Law School, according to his LinkedIn profile. He had worked as an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, and had also taught at Southern New Hampshire University and Great Bay Community College. More recently, he oversaw real estate investments and he was in charge of his family’s finances, the report states.
In early 2023, according to the report, Kristin Talcott learned that the family’s “mortgage payments were several months in arrears and that her husband had not filed income tax returns ‘in years.’” She also “learned that the family’s health insurance had lapsed, that bills had not been paid, and that credit cards were ‘maxed out.’” Alexander Talcott had tried to find work, but was unsuccessful.
After a series of suicidal texts from her husband, Kristin Talcott “begged” her husband to seek therapy to address his mental health, and expressed her concerns to family and friend for her and her children’s safety, the report states.
“As a result of these various issues, Mrs. Talcott started plans to take the children and leave Mr. Talcott,” the report states. “She tried to keep those plans secret from her husband, so as not to trigger what she believed could be an angry and unpredictable response from him.”
She also “called a local domestic violence shelter and a legal aid office for assistance and advice, and learned that she might need to take out a temporary restraining order against Mr. Talcott in order to reside with the children in Massachusetts,” the report states.
Her family later suggested that she carry pepper spray for her safety, the report states.
Later, during that struggle and stabbing in their master bedroom that would turn fatal, Alexander Talcott stumbled into the master bathroom, and while fatally wounded, asked his wife for a piece of fruit, the report states.
The request, she noted, “seemed ‘weird,’” the report states. Kristin Talcott ran to her cellphone and called 911. She also grabbed a piece of fruit, returned to her husband, and placed it by him, “acknowledging that it was ‘weird’ but ‘this is the person I loved for twenty years.’”
She later told investigators: “I was with someone who is emotionally unstable and knows I am trying to leave,” the report states.
Formella in his report said Alexander Talcott “was committing a violent and armed assault against his wife” and that his wife’s actions that night were justified as “defensive deadly force to prevent further life-threatening acts against her.”
“Based on all the facts and circumstances known to Kristin Talcott at the time she used deadly force against Alexander Talcott, it was reasonable for her to conclude that her husband was using unlawful deadly force against her and that her own use of deadly force was necessary to prevent his further violent aggression,” the attorney general concluded.
If you or a loved one are a victim of domestic violence, there are resources available to you, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline which is available 24/7 at 800-799-7233. Anyone experiencing a domestic violence emergency should call 911.
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