Delaware Man Held Without Bail in 2017 Murder of Haverhill’s Bryce Finn

Meagan Finn, the mother of murdered Bradford teen Bryce Finn, was escorted out of Haverhill District Court after the arraignment of Nicholas Mandato. (WHAV News photograph.)

Meagan Finn, the mother of murdered Bradford teen Bryce Finn, left Haverhill District Court after the arraignment of Nicholas Mandato. (WHAV News photograph)

Twenty-year-old Delaware man Nicholas Mandato was ordered held without bail Thursday afternoon on a murder charge in the June 2017 shooting death of Bradford’s Bryce Finn.

Waiving rendition following his arrest by Delaware State Police earlier this week, Mandato was led into Judge Mary McCabe’s Haverhill District courtroom in handcuffs. Clad in a black short-sleeve graphic T-shirt, Mandato glanced around the courtroom and briefly conferred with his attorney as the charge against him was entered.

Nicholas Mandato (Booking photograph courtesy of the Sussex Correctional Institution)

Bryce Finn’s mother, Meagan, and girlfriend Grace Murphy were among the family and friends who packed two rows of the courtroom gallery to hear prosecutor Christina Ronan petition for Mandato to be held without bail.

“Based on the seriousness of the facts and circumstances, and given that the defendant resides outside of the Commonwealth, I’d argue that it is appropriate,” Ronan told the judge.

Court documents, including the police report from the June 6 shooting, were not released or read aloud in court.

During the hearing, Meagan Finn displayed a scrapbook featuring her son’s name and photo outwardly for the defendant to see.

She declined to comment to reporters after the hearing, as did Haverhill Det. Rick Welch, who served as the case’s lead investigator. Welch also had no comment when asked by WHAV about the charges against the other two men arrested in connection with Finn’s death.

Represented by Boston-based criminal attorney Stephen Neyman, Mancato is due back in court August 28 for a probable cause hearing.