Lawyer: Mom didn’t plan to sacrifice her children

Nicole Mancini never intended to hurt any of her three children despite allegations that she walked into a church in Rochester, N.H., and put them up for sacrifice, her lawyer said.

“They were never tied to the altar, there was no blood, there were no constraints for sacrificial use,” said Kimberly Shoen, Mancini’s attorney.

Mancini, 29, of Farmington and her boyfriend, John Thurber, 35, of Rochester were each charged Friday with three counts of child endangerment.

Prosecutors say the couple wanted to sacrifice the childen and had even talked about it before walking into St. Mary’s church on Wednesday.

Mancini and Thurber have a 1-year-old baby and Mancini has two children from a previous relationship. Those children are now in the custody of the state.

Mancini’s life took a downturn two years ago. Her marriage had unraveled and her mother had died from cancer, sources said. When Mancini and her husband split, she underwent extensive counseling at her church in Sanbornville, according to the church’s secretary. After the marriage was dissolved, her ex-husband moved out of the mobile home they shared in Exeter. Mancini then moved with her two children to Farmington. Soon after, she started dating Thurber.

Mancini was prone to feuding with her neighbors in Exeter and owned many of them money, said the woman who bought Mancini’s mobile home. “Most of her neighbors didn’t like her because she was constantly bothering them and trying to pick fights,” said the woman, who declined to give her name.

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