Social media posts by Tyler Pollender-Savery show the 23-year-old Ludlow man had a motive for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 11-month-old son, prosecutors said in an evidentiary hearing in the case. 

Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill said that more than 4,000 pages of Facebook chats include violent threats. Pollender-Savery has been charged with second-degree murder of Karsen Rickert. He’s accused of strangling the infant to death in January 2018.

Cahill said Pollender-Savery was concerned Rickert’s mother, Abigail Wood, had rekindled a romance with the biological father. “Saying that if Abby and [the father] kept this up, people are going to start dying,” Cahill said.

Ludlow man charged with murder of 11-month-old boy

On Thursday, Ludlow Police Chief Jeff Billings told the court that he performed CPR on Rickert and noticed marks on the baby’s neck while checking for a pulse.

“I was going to go to the neck and I noticed there were pronounced red marks around the neck and some scratch marks,” Billings said.

Jennie Duval, New Hampshire’s Chief Medical Examiner, who performed the autopsy on Rickert, ruled the death a homicide. “Karsen died of asphyxia as a result of strangling and/or smothering,” Duval said.

Court documents show Pollender-Savery and Wood initially told police they believed the infant became trapped in a blanket. Duval said that was unlikely.  

“It would not leave any marks on the neck externally and certainly not cause internal injury which I saw in multiple layers,” Duval said.

Defense Attorney David Sleigh said the state’s case is based on “pure emotion.”

The defense and prosecution both have 7 days to review the evidence and enter any objections. The judge will then decide if the case should go forward.