Main image: The New Hampshire State House; the granite building is the oldest state capitol in which both houses of the Legislature meet in their original chambers (AP Photo/Holly Ramer); Inset: Mark Edgington appears in a campaign photo (Mark Edgington for Hillsboro 38/Facebook)
A man running for state representative in New Hampshire has dropped out after local media reported on his decades-old murder conviction.
Mark Edgington, 53, was originally accused of being an accessory to murder after the fact in the 1989 slaying of 37-year-old Ballapuran Umakanthan, the manager of an Econo Lodge in Bradenton, Florida. Taking a plea deal, he was convicted of murder in the second degree.
In the end, he served eight years in a Sunshine State correctional facility and subsequently cleaned up his act, finding a career in radio and a purpose in various projects of the libertarian movement.
Those beliefs brought Edgington, who also goes by “Mark Edge,” to New Hampshire, one of the most libertarian-leaning states in the country. Dozens of members of the Free State Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to transform the low population state into a libertarian stronghold, have been elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Edgington is a former member of the group and, until earlier this month, he was running in a Republican primary for one of two open seats in a float district that represents the Hillsborough County towns of Hudson and Litchfield.
On July 12, New Hampshire GOP leaders invoked a seldom-used party rule to formally recognize the two other people running in the primary for Hillsborough District 38, state Rep. Ralph Boehm and former state Rep. Kimberly Rice. Loudly silent from the announcement was any mention of Edgington whatsoever.
The timing and apparent motivation was not difficult to parse.
On July 10, the NH Journal ran a lengthy exposé on Edgington’s involvement in the murder of Umakanthan, including an archived story from The Bradenton Herald and citing an affidavit in the case.
During the early morning hours on June 29, 1988, then 18-year-old Carmen Tungate was fired from, or quit, his job as a motel clerk after stealing money and got into a fatal argument with the manager. Umakanthan was strangled to death. Initially, investigators believed then 17-year-old Edgington helped Tungate wrap the body in a motel blanket in an abortive attempt to secret the evidence away from the scene of the crime, according to The Bradenton Herald.
After Edgington was arrested at high school, where he was taking summer classes, a subsequent investigation determined a much greater level of culpability. The two friends lured the motel manager into their rented room by filing a false complaint about a broken air conditioner. Tungate then bashed Umakanthan over the head with a pipe. The victim fought back but was quickly subdued. Tungate held Umakanthan down while Edgington strangled him until his ears bled.
Prosecutors believed neither man would perform well as a witness against the other and begrudgingly allowed each to plead no contest to second-degree murder. State guidelines at the time suggested sentences of 12 to 17 years in prison. Manatee County Circuit Judge Tom Gallen ran straight through those guidelines and sentenced Tungate to 30 years behind bars while sentencing Edgington to 25. Neither served a full sentence. Tungate was released in 10 years and Edgington was released in eight after a Supreme Court ruling.
Tungate stuck to crime after his second chance. And stayed in Florida.
He repeatedly exposed himself to nearly a dozen minors in Sarasota and served just shy of three years in the Polk Correctional Institute on lewd and lascivious conduct charges. In June 2008, he was released. In January 2009, he was shot and killed while driving in St. Petersburg, according to the Herald-Tribune. Tungate’s slaying has never been solved.
Edgington’s path was markedly different. He reflected on the dire start to his adult life when confronted about the murder last week.
“Thirty-five years ago, at 17, I made some bad choices to hang out with the wrong people,” the then-candidate told NH Journal. “The results were catastrophic. It taught me a lot and I am grateful for the lessons, all of the lessons, that have made me the man I am today.”
In the ensuing years, Edgington went to college — where he met Ian Bernard, who changed his name to Ian Freeman. The two friends moved to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project and cofounded the successful libertarian talk show “Free Talk Live.”
Still, misfortune and the law seem to be nipping around the edges.
In 2004, he declared bankruptcy on debts between $100,000 and $500,000. In 2021, he sued an FBI agent for seizing radio equipment during an investigation that never resulted in any charges.
In 2023, Freeman was handed an eight-year federal prison sentence for money laundering charges related to illicit Bitcoin activities. In February, he was ordered to pay over $3.5 million in restitution.
Still, Edgington’s own trajectory walked the line.
“The best thing I can do is live my life in the best way I can, to be the best person I can be,” he told the New Hampshire Bulletin. “And to do good things. I’ve been given a chance and I feel I haven’t squandered that chance. I don’t drink anymore. I don’t smoke anymore. I don’t do drugs anymore. I make good decisions and get good outcomes.”
Also among his friends is New Hampshire House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, a Republican who has known him for 20 years. Before the latest developments, he was ecstatic about his candidacy.
“I’m going to do what I can to get him elected,” Osborne told the Bulletin just last week. “I know there is one (candidate) I can count on for a vote every time. The other two, I’m not sure.”
And, even in the face of the reporting, at least at first, Edgington acknowledged his criminal past was something of a steep hill — but hitting a note that suggested all of the attention was at little untoward.
“I would prefer that the whole world forget about it,” Edgington told the Bulletin. “That’s not going to happen. I don’t know why my biggest mistake at 17 is so very important when so rarely are someone’s mistakes at 17.”
But with the higher-ups’ decisions made, the writing on the wall was clear enough. Another setback. Edgington, who previously said he was not the ideal choice to primary a sitting elected official, dropped out.
“When I embarked on this, I expected fair, respectful treatment by the press and my party, and to serve my constituents,” he told the NH Bulletin in comments reported on Monday — faulting rival publication NH Journal for its “salacious” reporting on his past.
“(The reporting) is causing me mental stress and affecting my family relations,” Edgington continued. “I don’t need this.”
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