Goffstown teen pleads guilty to 2017 murder of Memorial High School senior

Jaiden Ciruzzi is facing the possibility of being imprisoned for 37 years for the 2017 shooting death of a Manchester Memorial High School senior in a Goffstown incident described by investigators as a drug deal gone wrong.

by Pat Grossmith

Updated March 29, 2022

Jaiden Ciruzzi appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court North on March 28, 2021, to enter a guilty plea in the 2017 shooting death of Ian Jewell. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings

MANCHESTER, NH — Jaiden Ciruzzi is facing the possibility of being imprisoned for 37 years for the 2017 shooting death of a Manchester Memorial High School senior in a Goffstown incident described by investigators as a drug deal gone wrong.

Ciruzzi, now 20, was a 16-year-old Goffstown High School student when he shot Ian Jewell, 18, on the afternoon of Nov. 19, 2017, in the parking lot of Ace Hardware in Goffstown. Jewell was a senior, honor student and student athlete at Manchester Memorial High School who also volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Police said Ciruzzi told friends that day that he planned to rob Jewell of the drugs, but instead he ended up shooting him in the chest in a struggle over a loaded semi-automatic Ruger LC9 handgun Circuzzi had brought with him.

On Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District, Ciruzzi pleaded guilty to second-degree murder accusing him of recklessly causing the death of Jewell “with extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said the state was recommending a capped plea of 37 years to life. Ciruzzi has the opportunity to have another five years suspended from the sentence if he meets certain conditions: is of good behavior for five years, earns an associate’s degree and then a bachelor’s degree.

If he meets all three conditions, his sentence would be reduced to 32 years. However, that is dependent on whether Judge N. William Delker accepts the prosecution’s recommendation.

Once he has served two-thirds of the minimum sentence, he will have the opportunity to seek parole. If he meets all conditions, it means he could seek parole after serving about 21 years. Ciruzzi already has been held in the Valley Street jail for more than four years.

Under the agreement, a first-degree murder charge will be nol-prossed.

Sentencing is set for June 2, when Judge Will Decker will decide whether to accept a proposed conditional reduced sentence in the case. Photo/Jeffrey Hastings

The capped plea means the judge cannot sentence Ciruzzi to more than 37 years. However, the judge could sentence him to fewer years. Sentencing is set for June 2 when family members will have the opportunity to make a statement.

Jewell’s parents, who were in the courtroom Monday, declined comment. Hinckley said he and the victim-witness advocate kept Jewell’s parents comprised of the plea negotiations. He said it was fair to say “they are not in disagreement with that proposed disposition.”

He also said the lead investigator in the case and Goffstown police agree with the proposed disposition.

After the hearing and outside the courtroom, Hinckley said whenever you are dealing with a family member who has lost a loved one “to say it is a fair and an appropriate sentence is a disservice. There is no fair and appropriate sentence for the family of a victim of homicide.”

The shooting took place about 4:20 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2017, in the parking lot of Ace Hardware, 5 Depot St., Goffstown. Jewell’s 16-year-old girlfriend was in the driver’s seat and Jewell in the passenger seat.

Ciruzzi got into the back seat and when Jewell showed him the drugs, Ciruzzi pulled out the loaded pistol, according to police. Ciruzzi demanded Jewell hand over his “property,” Hinckley told the judge.

Hinckley never mentioned that the “property” was drugs, which an investigator testified to early on in the case.

Jewell ended up in the back seat in a struggle over the pistol and was shot in the chest; the bullet grazed Ciruzzi’s leg, causing a superficial wound, Hinckley said. Jewell later died at a local hospital.

The case has lingered in the courts for more than four years for many reasons including Ciruzzi had to be certified as an adult in order to stand trial in Superior Court. That process is a long one that is handled through the Juvenile Court.

Hinckley said the COVID-19 pandemic and a change in defense attorneys also delayed the case being set for trial.

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