Long-simmering acrimony between Paul Herlihy and his son, Douglas, was reaching a peak when Paul put a for-sale sign on the car he bought for his son and parked it in front of their Milford house on Aug. 22, 2003, the day before Paul was last known to be alive, a state investigator testified Thursday.

Five days later, family members concerned that they had been unable to reach Paul Herlihy, 50, called police, who went to the 425 Nashua St. home and found his decomposing body on the kitchen floor, state prosecutors said.

Herlihy’s body was wrapped in a piece of carpet and covered with blue tarp with a fan blowing toward it, New Hampshire Cold Case investigator Bruce Foremny testified at the more than two-hour bail hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court South in Nashua.

Paul Herlih

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