Jilted girlfriend, 66, gets 28 to 56 years in fatal shooting of longtime partner

Convicted killer Haydee Rivera-Nadeau smiles as she enters a Strafford Superior courtroom during Thursday's sentencing hearing; inset Lisa Rocheleau (WMUR screenshot; Rocheleau/courtesy)

DOVER - An elderly Somersworth woman was sentenced on Thursday to 28 to 56 years in prison for fatally shooting her longtime girlfriend after she left her for another woman in May of 2023.

Haydee Rivera-Nadeau, 66, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder in the death of Lisa Rocheleau, 54, of Rochester.

The capped plea she agreed to allowed for a sentence of up to anywhere from 28 to 56 years, which is what she received in Thursday.

Rivera-Nadeau also pleaded guilty to falsifying physical evidence for trying to conceal the murder weapon, a handgun she often carried with her, according to court testimony.
Nadeau-Rivera was indicted in August 2023 on two counts of second degree murder, one count of falsifying physical evidence and one count of stalking.
The indictment alleged that on May 1, 2023, Rivera-Nadeau followed her Rocheleau to her place of employment on Winter Street in Rochester, where she "aimed a firearm at Ms. Rocheleau's face ... and shot her."
According to a Rochester Police affidavit, Rivera-Nadeau told an acquaintance the day after the shooting that her former lover's death was an accident.
Rocheleau died at Portsmouth Regional Hospital a few days after she was shot after never regaining consciousness.
Rivera-Nadeau and Rocheleau had been in a longtime "toxic" relationship, according to a Gofundme page set up to help the Rocheleau family.
"Lisa was finally happy for once in her life, after working up the courage to leave (the relationship)," the Gofundme page stated.
A member of Rocheleau's family who discovered her on the floor of her title business inside the Winter Street Professional Arts building told police that Rivera-Nadeau "had a history of being verbally and physically violent."
A digital extraction of Rocheleau's phone revealed that Rivera-Nadeau had texted her regarding the possibility of her "cheating on her" within the week preceding the shooting.
Surveillance video at the 40 Winter St. building shows a person identified as Rivera-Nadeau arrived at 6:39 a.m. on May 1, 2023, and left about a half hour later.
Police spoke with another acquaintance of the suspect on May 2, 2023, who said Rivera-Nadeau called her that day to tell her that the shooting was an accident, the affidavit states.
Also that, "she didn't mean to hurt anyone, that she just went to Lisa's office to drop off a plant" and "that they got into an argument."
According to the affidavit, "At some point she (Haydee) had the gun in her hand and it clicked. Lisa then got scared and went towards her (Haydee) and the gun accidentally went off and hit Lisa in the head."
Rivera-Nadeau then told the acquaintance she was on the run, because "the police won't believe it was an accident."
Rocheleau leaves behind three sons.