KERHONKSON � A woman who was wanted in connection with a stabbing in Manchester, New Hampshire, is cooling her heels in the Ulster County Jail after police tracked her to a Kerhonkson motel and arrested her without incident. Molly Martel is accused of stabbing to death 27-year-old Stephanie Campbell of Manchester, New Hampshire, after an argument on Tuesday, November 2. She was apprehended at the Colonial Motel on the night of Thursday, November 4.

Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion says that the Ellenville Police Department was intimately involved in the apprehension of Martel. According to Mattracion, his office received a call from New Hampshire police officials stating that Martel could be in the Ellenville area. Apparently, a cell phone call Martel had made was traced to a village residence. Mattracion says that this residence was then placed under surveillance.

It was during this surveillance that a uniformed state trooper out of the Ellenville barracks saw Martel's car parked at the Colonial Motel on Route 209 in Kerhonkson. Mattracion, along with a number of other Ellenville police officers, then proceeded to the motel, where they joined state police in surrounding the room in which Martel was staying. After a short negotiation, Martel surrendered

"We had the place surrounded and she didn't want to come out for a while," Mattracion says. "She eventually opened the door and surrendered peacefully. She was taken into custody at that point."

Martel, 22, was in a relationship with the father of Campbell's two sons, and the New Hampshire Union Leader reports that neighbors heard the two women arguing about Martel taking one of the boys. Janice Rundles of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office reported that Campbell was stabbed four times, and died of a chest wound. In addition to her children, Campbell is survived by a daughter from another relationship.

Rundles would not comment on the reason Martel may have had for coming to New York, remarking the day after her capture that, "until last night we had reason to believe she was in New Hampshire." However, she advised that her office had been following any leads that it could find.

Stan O'Dell, a senior investigator with the New York State Police, says that his office was aware that Martel had associates in the area, and further commented, "We had reason to believe that she was in the area, and our investigators and troopers were out and about searching the motels and hotels." The suspect's car was located at the Colonial Motel on Route 209, and the owner was interviewed to ascertain which room she was staying in. She was arrested shortly thereafter.

A man who would only identify himself as son of the Colonial Motel's owner claimed that Martel was not registered under her own name, and that he had no further information about the case.

Mattracion says that, in his eyes, the nature of Martel's crime was particularly tragic.

"It was just a horrific crime, from what I was told," Mattracion says. "It was very violent, and committed by a young woman who had her whole life in front of her. What a tragedy for all involved."

Martel is presently being held in the Ulster County Jail pending extradition back to New Hampshire, according to O'Dell. How long she will remain in New York depends in part on whether or not she waives an extradition hearing, a process that could take at least another week.