Concord Woman, Loudon Man Face Drug Charges In Merrimack

MERRIMACK, NH — Two capital region residents are facing felony drug charges after an early morning patrol by police in Merrimack last month.

At around 1:15 a.m. on June 25, an officer was patrolling the area near the Quality Inn on the Daniel Webster Highway, “a location known to (the officer) for suspicious activity involving drugs,” according to an affidavit. During the patrol, the officer reported seeing a Honda Accord, parked in the rear lot, with its interior lights illuminated and two people inside. The officer approached the vehicle and saw a female passenger “holding a small clear plastic bag up to her face,” the report said. The bag contained a small white rock-like substance that appeared to be methamphetamine.

The officer approached the vehicle, shined a flashlight inside, and spoke to the occupants, and while doing so, accused the woman, Kaitlyn Barry, 24, of Bradley Street in Concord of placing the plastic bag between her legs. There was also another plastic bag on her lap, the officer wrote. After requesting to see what was in the bags, the officer questioned Barry.

“I asked the female what the substance was and she stated she didn’t know and that she thought it might be bath salts,” an affidavit stated. “I asked the male to turn off the vehicle and asked them both to step out of the vehicle to speak with me.”

The driver was identified as Matthew Gilliland, 26, of Bradley Terrace in Loudon.

Barry, the officer wrote, said she was checking into a drug rehabilitation center the next day and requested the officer just take the drugs and not charge her. The officer replied that he was still investigating what they were doing. She then asked if she could see a bail commissioner, the report said, because she did not want to go to the Valley Street Jail. The report stated she was at the hotel to use the bathroom that night, the officer wrote, and claimed the plastic bags had laxatives in them.

An officer and sergeant arrived to assist and Barry was arrested and charged with meth possession. She requested to go through her purse first but that request was denied, the officer stated. Later, during processing, the officer accused her of being in possession of a small glass device that appeared to be used for snorting drugs that was found in her purse.

Gilliland was told the vehicle was being seized while the police could apply for a search warrant but he consented to a search, the affidavit said. The report said Gilliland admitted to having marijuana and a pipe but during a search, police found pills later identified as clonazepam. A glass pipe with burnt residue and two bags of marijuana were also found in a side door compartment.

They were both released on personal recognizance bail. Gilliland is due in Hillsborough County Superior Court South for arraignment on July 22. Barry has an unknown court date.

Gilliland, according to the superior court, was arrested on a felony drug possession charge in Manchester in October 2020. The charge was nolle prossed on March 31. He was also arrested in Concord on an indecent exposure charge in March. Barry was arrested in Concord in September 2017 on assault charges.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Merrimack Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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