DERRY -- A Derry woman who works locally as the media coordinator for the School Administrative Unit 21 superintendent discovered the body of her slain husband upon her return home Tuesday evening.

Derry Police said in a press release that the death of Gregory Smart, 24, of Misty Morning Drive in Derry, is being treated as a homicide. The press statement said his body was discovered at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening and that an autopsy conducted the following day revealed Smart died as the result of a single gunshot wound to the head.

The manner of death was ruled as a homicide, according to the press release, but police had no further information about the incident.

Smart's body was discovered by his wife, Pamela Wojas Smart, who was returning home from the joint meeting of school boards in the SAU 21 system, according to co-worker Patricia Wiser, who is an SAU 21 media assistant.

"Monday would have been their first anniversary," said Wiser in a brief interview last night. "They were just a young couple in love and just a very clean cut pair of kids that were never involved in anything."

Wiser said she attended the wedding of the couple and had seen Mr. Smart several times during the past year. "He was just a really nice guy, very hard working," she said.

As director of the superintendent's office media center, Mrs. Smart is scheduled to teach a course in mass media next year. Wiser said Mrs. Smart, who is taking time off from work and staying with her family in Windham, has asked that a memorial fund be established in memory of her husband.

"She has decided to have a Gregg Smart Memorial Fund to help the class at the high school, because Gregg was really excited for her and she feels this would be something very nice as a way to remember him."

People who wish to make donations in memory of Mr. Smart are asked to send them to the Gregg Smart Memorial Fund, Rockingham County Trust Company, to the attention of Muriel Cote, 267 South Broadway, Salem, New Hampshire, 03079.

Wiser said Gregg Smart worked as a sales representative for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and had recently won an award for being the "rookie of the year." She said the award included a vacation trip to Florida that the couple were looking forward to taking.