CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Danny Paquette’s stepdaughter Melanie admitted misleading prosecutors after his 1985 murder, according to court papers released Wednesday.

The papers say Melanie Cooper, now married and living in the West, told authorities she was with her then-boyfriend, Eric Windhurst, the day he shot her stepfather through the heart as Paquette worked outside his Hooksett home.

The admission is in an affidavit released at Merrimack County Superior Court as Windhurst, now 37, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

The papers show that Windhurst was arrested last week on the basis of information Cooper provided to police.

The affidavit says Cooper came forward last year and has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of misleading investigators.

Windhurst, of Hopkinton, was charged a week ago with the 20-year-old death, which authorities investigated as a homicide but said might have resulted from a hunter’s stray bullet.

“We always knew and believed today would come,” Victor Paquette, brother of the victim, said last week.

Windhurst, a junior at Hopkinton High in 1985, is a building contractor now who neighbors and authorities say was quiet and kept a low profile.

Prosecutors have not elaborated on their other evidence or Windhurst’s alleged motive.

Danny Paquette was 36 when he was shot while doing welding work on a bulldozer outside of his barn on Nov. 9, 1985. He stood up and was shot once in the heart from a distance.

Danny Paquette and Melanie’s mother divorced in 1981 and the mother moved to Alaska with Melanie and her sisters. Melanie returned to the area in 1984 and entered Hopkinton High that fall, according to published reports.

News reports after the murder said Windhurst and Melanie Paquette were dating, though the affidavit was silent on their relationship.

At the time of the killing, Melanie was staying with her uncle, Philip Messier, and his wife, now Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire. The couple asked to be appointed her guardians.

McGuire has not returned telephone messages in the past week seeking comment.