The husband of Brooke Hanlon, a 35-year-old psychotherapist and mother who was fatally stabbed inside her rural New Jersey home in June, has spoken publicly for the first time as her family and the wider community continue to demand answers.
‘My heart is totally shattered,’ Conor, 36, told Our News Outlet in an exclusive interview Friday after being approached at the Chester Township home he once shared with Brooke and their infant daughter, Avery. Brooke was killed in an upstairs bedroom of the property.
Asked about speculation that he may have been involved in his wife’s death, Conor shook his head.
‘Of course not,’ he said, appearing somber but composed as he stood in the doorway.
‘It’s a tragedy.’
Conor declined to discuss the case in detail, repeatedly citing the ‘ongoing investigation,’ and would not respond to questions about whether authorities have identified a possible suspect.
‘I just can’t,’ he said.
His comments come after weeks in which Conor had not been seen publicly following Brooke’s killing, a silence that fueled growing rumors throughout the Chester Township community.
Conor Hanlon, 36, was seen returning to his car after picking up a bagel near his Chester Township, New Jersey, home
Brooke Haggerty Hanlon, 35, was found dead on June 6 inside the Chester Township home she shared with her husband, James Conor Hanlon, and their little girl, Avery
But in recent days, Conor has been turning up regularly at the Pottersville Road home he shared with Brooke and has been spending the night there.
Multiple neighbors in this posh horse country area have told Our News Outlet that Chester police have given them very little information about the case and that they’ve been scared and confused.
‘On one hand they said at the beginning that there was no danger to the public but then weeks later they came around and started asking questions,’ one local resident told Our News Outlet.
‘What is going on? Nobody will tell us anything.’
Brooke’s car is still parked in the driveway where it was the day she was murdered. Conor’s vehicle also remained there for weeks as well until he suddenly picked it up and began driving it again about a month ago, according to neighbors.
He was spotted on at least one occasion last month in the Boston area where many of his family live, one relative told Our News Outlet.
Conor has been seen taking items out of the garage as well as doing a lot of weed whacking in the backyard.
Although Conor and Brooke lived for a time at Brooke’s parents’ lavish estate 10 minutes away in Chester Township, prior to moving into their own home here in 2024, Conor has not been seen at his in-laws.
Hanlon has broken his silence over his wife’s still-unsolved murder, telling Our News Outlet his heart is ‘totally shattered’
Brooke and Conor Hanlon, who tied the knot in June 2021 and share a toddler daughter, moved into their $550,000 home two years ago
Brooke, the daughter of a powerful Big Pharma attorney, was found dead on June 6 inside the Chester Township home she shared with Conor and their baby daughter, Avery.
In a harrowing 911 call released last month, Conor Hanlon can be heard shrieking about discovering his wife’s body and how there was ‘blood everywhere.’
‘I just found my wife!….She’s not breathing or conscious,’ Conor howled on the call. ‘What the f**k, what the f**k! I need CPR. Oh my God there’s a laceration in there!’
At times, Hanlon’s keening was so high-pitched it was hard to understand him.
‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God I need help immediately!…I need an ambulance! I don’t know what to do, what the f**k.’
The 911 operator instructs Hanlon to do chest compressions to resuscitate Brooke and Hanlon can be heard saying, ‘I got this, I got this, come on Brooke.’
As he is doing the chest compressions, Hanlon can be heard talking again about her stab wounds, saying ‘what the f**k happened’ and crying and grunting until the first responders arrive.
Hanlon is heard saying ‘I found her’ to the first responders before the call ends.
Hanlon was still wearing his wedding ring more than two months after his wife, Brooke Haggerty Hanlon, was found stabbed to death
Police were stationed outside the couple’s home 24 hours a day for at least two weeks after Hanlon’s body was discovered. When Our News Outlet visited the home last month, both Conor and Brooke’s cars were still parked in the driveway
Released 911 audio captures the psychotherapist Brooke’s husband, Conor Hanlon, pleading for help after discovering his wife’s body
The couple had moved to Chester, Brooke’s hometown, about two years ago after meeting in Conor Hanlon’s native Boston.
The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office has given almost no details about the murder, not even identifying Brooke as the victim until after Our News Outlet revealed it exclusively on June 26 – and has not been returning phone calls from the media.
When Our News Outlet approached Brooke’s father, Joseph Haggerty, a former general counsel for some large Big Pharma corporations, in late June, Haggerty seemed not to know where his son-in-law was at the time – but said he and his wife were caring for the baby, Avery.
Three different neighbors of the Hanlons told Our News Outlet in late June that they knew him slightly but almost never saw Brooke.
One neighbor reported seeing Conor out in front of their house on the morning of the murder.
Two neighbors texted Conor after seeing swarms of police cars at the house on June 6 but have never heard from him since – or seen him.
Brooke Hanlon, who grew up in Chester, was most recently a licensed professional counselor and psychotherapist who worked with children, adolescents and families.
Her younger sister, Paige Haggerty, 28, broke her silence last month with this Instagram tribute
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wake Forest University and got her master’s in counseling psychology at Northeastern University in Boston.
She held various counseling jobs in the Boston area before moving back to her hometown in 2024.
Conor worked as a middle manager at a construction company not far from Chester Township. The current status of his employment is unclear.
