PORTSMOUTH — A 42-year city police officer, "whistleblower" John Connors, resigned Wednesday saying he did it to regain his right to free speech.

"I hereby resign as a member of the Portsmouth Police Auxiliary, effective immediately," Connors wrote in a letter to the Police Commission. "I take this action so that I do not violate the media policy that I have been found to have violated."

After he was the subject of a Portsmouth Herald interview in August 2014, Connors was served by police officials with a notice of complaint saying he violated the Police Department's media policy and committed malfeasance and insubordination. Since then, Connors alleges in a federal lawsuit he subsequently filed, he's been under a so-called gag order.

"It's sad that after 42 years, I have to turn in my resignation to get my First Amendment rights back," Connors told the Herald on Wednesday. "It's been well over a year that I've been unable to speak in public, or to the press. At one point I was told that if I want to say anything, or speak in public, I had to get permission from the police chief."

Connors called it "a sad day" and said, "It's too bad it had to come to this."

His attorney, Paul McEachern, said, "they can't gag him if he's not working for them."

"I respect his decision," McEachern said. "He's been proud to serve for as long as he has, but he's been under a lot of stress. It was the right thing to do at this time."

In his controversial interview, Connors said he saw now-fired police Sgt. Aaron Goodwin visit the late Geraldine Webber more than 100 times before Goodwin inherited more than $2 million from her. Webber's next door neighbor, Connors said he "wasn't being nosy," but "watching a crime as far as I was concerned."

He said he informed police chiefs, deputy chiefs and police commissioners, but nothing changed, so he went public.

The Herald last week obtained a recording of a June 19 internal investigation interview when Connors was pressed to say what crime he thought he witnessed. Asked if he thought Goodwin exerted undue influence over Webber, Connors said, "Yes I do."

Two months later, Judge Gary Cassavechia reached the same conclusion, dismissing Webber's final trust, and Goodwin's inheritance, while declaring that Goodwin had committed undue influence over the elderly woman in the months before her death.

The police complaint against Connors was initiated by Goodwin and the internal investigation interview was ordered by Chief Stephen DuBois, according to the recorded interview. Connors was informed during the internal investigation that the police media policy was drafted in 1995, to which he reported he retired as a full-time officer before that time.

Connors also said he gave the interview to the Herald as "a concerned citizen" and was told by Newport that, "We're police officers around the clock." Several police officials, including DuBois, previously said Goodwin's frequent contact with Webber wasn't police business because most of it was off-duty.

During Connors' investigatory interview, Newport told him he was also accused of insubordination because he gave the Herald interview after being told by former Deputy Chief Corey MacDonald "not to talk to the media." Connors said that the morning after he was served with notice of the three allegations, he confronted MacDonald who said, "I never told you that."

Newport then told Connors he was charged with malfeasance because he alleged in the Herald interview that Goodwin committed crimes. “What crimes?" Newport asked.

"Going in and taking advantage of this lady with dementia, which has been clearly proven in court," Connors answered.

While recorded, Connors then summarized his internal police investigation as follows, "So we've got the media policy I didn't know about, and insubordination that didn't happen, and the malfeasance that I think he used undue influence against the elderly woman with dementia and that's true."

Through McEachern, Connors claims in his federal lawsuit that he's been under a gag order since Goodwin filed his complaint against him 13 months ago. The city has asked for an extension, until Oct. 9, to respond.

McEachern said Wednesday that Connors' "reputation will be determined by the people who know him and served with him."

"Not by the command staff," he said.