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"Dedicated" New Hampshire Teacher Set On Fire, Murdered

HOLDERNESS, N.H. (AP) - School officials in Holderness, N.H., say a woman who died after apparently being doused with gasoline and set on fire was a dedicated teacher who worked closely with students with reading challenges.

Fifty-seven-year-old Evelyn Spodnick of Wentworth died Friday, and authorities plan to charge 60-year-old Barry Winters with first-degree murder. Winters, who lived with Spodnick, has not been charged yet because he remains hospitalized with self-inflicted burns.

Spodnick recently finished her final year teaching reading at Holderness Central School. Principal William Van Bennekum says she did her job so well that the community rallied behind her to keep her position funded for years.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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