Inset: Caitlyn Naffziger (LinkedIn). Background: Dustin Duren hears his fate for murdering Naffziger (Law&Crime).
A 38-year-old New Hampshire man is headed to prison for decades after he murdered his ex-girlfriend as she sat on the couch with their then-4-year-old daughter nearby.
Dustin Mark Duren was sentenced last week to between 45 years and life behind bars for killing 31-year-old Caitlyn Naffziger. A jury in October convicted him of second-degree murder, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon and endangering the welfare of a child.
Prosecutors said Duren and Naffziger were in the midst of a nasty dispute over the custody of their two children, then ages 4 and 1. In January 2024, Duren moved from his native Minnesota to New Hampshire and brought one of the kids with him. Naffziger flew from the Land of 10,000 Lakes to the Granite State with the other child on Feb. 27, 2024.
Duren, Naffziger and the two kids were in his apartment in Berlin but the defendant did not want his ex-girlfriend there and "repeatedly" asked when she was leaving.
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"She ignored him or did not respond to his satisfaction," prosecutors wrote in Duren's sentencing memorandum. "The defendant became frustrated, then angry."
On Feb. 29, 2024, Duren tried to force her out of his apartment and leave the kids behind, which she refused to do. As she held the 4-year-old while sitting on the couch with a pink unicorn blanket wrapped around her, Duren yanked the girl away with one hand and fired a gun at the left side of Naffziger's head, killing her. As an ex-Marine he was an expert marksman and knew exactly what he was doing when he fired the gun, prosecutors said.
Later, the girl told a doctor that the gunshot hurt her ears.
"Mommy and daddy were fighting," she told the doctor. "Daddy hurt me and mommy. Mommy had lots of blood."
After shooting the victim, Duren grabbed the kids and took off, which sparked an Amber Alert. Witnesses said they saw Duren and the kids in the parking lot of an Applebee's. The children were unharmed.
Duren testified during the trial, claiming he felt as if his ex was going to kidnap the children. But the jury didn't buy his argument and convicted him after deliberating for roughly five hours.
At Duren's sentencing hearing, Naffziger's aunt Shannon Spurgeon spoke about the impact the murder has had on her loved ones.
"Nothing can prepare you for the heartbreak of losing someone like Caitlin," Spurgeon said. "Losing her in such a violent and senseless way shattered everyone who loves her."
The victim's stepfather Tim Smith said the murder "culminated years of classic textbook domestic violence" such as isolating her from her family and controlling her.
"When the control that Dustin imposed on Caitlyn, which was facilitated by using their children as pawns, was lost, he knew he had lost control, because Caitlyn told him so," Smith said. "Like so many abusers, Dustin resorted to murder in a vicious attempt to maintain that control at all cost."