Warner Man Pleads Guilty To Rape, Firearm, Voter Fraud Charges

CONCORD, NH — A convicted rapist and career criminal has pleaded guilty to an array of charges during the past two and half years all around the state of New Hampshire.

Douglas Carl Smith Jr., 31, of Warner pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single felony count of aggravated felonious sexual assault, a single felony and two misdemeanor wrongful voting charges, a felony reckless conduct with a deadly weapon charge, a felon in possession of a firearm charge, and a felony duty to inform-subsequent charge as part of "a global plea agreement" between Merrimack and Sullivan counties as well as the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

As part of the deal, Smith was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison and will serve concurrent sentences on some of the charges. Sentencing for other charges will be suspended, according to Kate Giaquinto, the director of communication for the attorney general's office.

"A global plea agreement is a routine negotiated resolution that occurs when a defendant faces multiple, unrelated charges brought by different prosecuting offices," she said.

As part of the agreement, Smith admitted to many crimes beginning in 2018.

Smith voted in Danbury and Grafton during March 2018 town elections as well as knowingly providing false information when registering to vote in Danbury. He will serve six months in prison as part of the voter fraud charges with the rest of the time suspended three years after being released from prison.

In September 2018 and February 2019, he failed to register as a sex offender in Grafton, a requirement due to a prior sexual assault conviction. Smith was sentenced to three and half to seven years in prison on the registry charges, all suspended for a decade.

In August 2019, Smith fired a gun at a motor vehicle in Warner and was arrested about a month later. He will serve two to four years on the deadly weapon charge and it will run concurrent to other sentencing while two to four years on the felon in possession of a firearm charge will be suspended for three years after he is released from prison. As a felon, Smith was not allowed to possess a gun in New Hampshire.

Smith also raped a woman in Croydon in January and will serve a minimum of two years and six months for the rape with four years and six months suspended.

Not long after the rape incident, Smith vanished, skipping out on the Warner weapon and conduct charges court hearing after being indicted on the charges in December 2019. He was the subject of several alerts as police tried to find him — including bad tips and an incident near his former home in Warner. Smith was captured later in Vermont.

A number of media outlets reported Smith and his wife shared living quarters with Trish Haynes, 26, whose partial body was found inside of a washing machine in Grants Pond in Grafton in September 2018. Her remains were identified in July 2019. Haynes was a native of Florida who moved to New Hampshire to rebuild her life. She was reported missing in May 2018, after breaking off contact with family members.

Smith was featured on the Live PD show on A&E Network in March while on the lam and the Still A Mystery series on Investigation Discovery as part of the Haynes case in August — which aired not long after he was captured.

There were no updates from the attorney general's office in the Haynes disappearance and murder case.

Smith's lengthy criminal record before these convictions includes a felonious sexual assault conviction as well as burglary, theft, harassment, assault, violation of probation or parole and violation of protective orders, receiving stolen property, duty to inform, resisting arrest, breach of bail, and numerous driving after revocation or suspension charges and convictions dating back more than 15 years.

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