Deaths of two veterinarians bring tragedy to New Hampshire emergency veterinary hospital

Staff and clients at Rockingham Emergency Veterinary Hospital in Windham, New Hampshire, faced the devastating loss of not one, but two veterinarians during the last week.

Autopsy results released July 8 confirmed that Rockingham veterinarian Jennifer Noll, DVM, was murdered in her home July 7, just days after Robyn Dolliver, DVM, who used Rockingham as a home base for her mobile veterinary practice, died unexpectedly.

“The hospital staff is in shock and devastated. We were already distraught over the sudden loss of Robyn when we heard about Jennifer,” Rockingham owner and Medical Director Christina Barnett, DVM, says in a statement on the practice's website. “They were both excellent veterinarians and will be dearly missed.”

The Exeter Police Department released a statement that officers were asked to conduct a welfare check at Noll's residence just before noon on July 7, but the reason for that request was not disclosed. Upon their arrival, police officers say they found Noll and Richard Sanderson, 49, dead from apparent gunshots wounds.

An autopsy conducted the next day revealed that Noll's cause of death was a single gunshot to the head. Sanderson's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the mouth. No further details about the relationship between Noll and Sanderson were released, but “It is believed that Richard Sanderson shot and killed Jennifer Noll, after which he committed suicide,” according to Susan G. Morrell, New Hampshire's senior assistant attorney general.

Noll, 43, worked at Rockingham since 2011, and had previously worked at several other practices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts after graduating from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004.

Dolliver's death, according to a statement from the practice, was an unrelated incident on July 4, and was simply described as “untimely.” Dolliver used Rockingham as a home base for her mobile veterinary practice for the last three years. No further details were given.

Barnett says the veterinary community around the practice has stepped up to help manage the practice's workload in the wake of the tragedy. “While this is an exceptionally difficult time, our patients' needs come first. We are committed to serving our community and will work through this difficult time while honoring the legacy of our lost colleagues,” Barnett says on the practice website.

Shock and grief poured out from clients on the practice's Facebook page, with one former client calling Noll an “angel.” Barnett called for privacy as the practice comes to grips with what happened.

“We respectfully ask for time and privacy to absorb the tragedies of the last four days,” Barnett commented, adding there would be no further comment from the practice on the case. Calls made by dvm360 to the practice were not returned by press time.