State police to resume search for Gardner man wanted in connection with wife’s murder

GARDNER, Mass. — Massachusetts State Police this week are expected to resume the search for a Gardner man who is wanted in connection with the murder of his wife.

Aaron Pennington, 33, has been on the run since Sunday, Oct. 22, when detectives found his wife, Breanne Pennington, lying in bed in an upstairs bedroom inside their Cherry Street home in Gardner “with obvious signs of death from an apparent gunshot wound to the head.”

On Friday, a state police dive team scoured Lake Wampanoag for clues in the hunt for Pennington but the effort came up empty. That water search was centered around an area near Camp Collier, where Pennington’s white 2013 BMW Model 320 was found in a wooded area by a hunter on Oct. 23.

Divers head to Lake Wampanoag in Gardner as search for man wanted in death of wife presses on

A murder warrant was issued last week charging Pennington in the shooting death of 30-year-old Breanne Pennington on Sunday, Oct. 22.

Officers were called to the couple’s home in Gardner around 9 a.m. on that Sunday after their four children, ages 2, 5, 7, and 9, left the house and told a neighbor that “they could not find their father and that their mother was in her bedroom crying,” the warrant indicated.

Through interviews and video surveillance, investigators learned that the couple “had been dealing with marital issues for quite some time.”

Since the discovery of Pennington’s BMW, members of the State Police Special Response Team, the State Police Tactical Operations Response Team, the Violent Fugitives Apprehension Section, state police K9 units, and Gardner and Ashburnham police have been searching a vast, 400-acre tract of woods to try to locate him and have asked hunters to check trail cameras.

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Aaron and Breanne Pennington (Family courtesy photo, DA's office)

The search for Pennington could resume as early as Tuesday, a state police spokesman said.

Pennington should be considered armed and dangerous, and the public should not approach him or try to search for him but rather call 911 immediately.

Authorities described Pennington as a white male with blonde hair, and blue eyes, standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighing approximately 175 pounds.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Gardner police or state police.

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