Concord, New Hampshire — The accused of shooting A New Hampshire Country Club The defendant was charged in September with murder, attempted murder and assault, authorities said Thursday.
Hunter Nadeau, 24, of Nashua, is accused of killing one person and wounding two others at Sky Meadow Country Club on Sept. 20 while a wedding was being held nearby. He was originally charged with second-degree murder, but indictments unsealed Thursday show he is charged under alternative theories of first-degree and second-degree murder, as well as attempted murder and assault.
Authorities declined to discuss a possible motive for the shooting but said they did not believe the victims were targeted by Nadeau, who previously worked at the Nashua club and was arrested shortly after the shooting. A message was left for his lawyer on Thursday.
Police credited restaurant patrons with responding quickly during the chaos, and witnesses said one person hit the gunman with a chair to help subdue him. Charlene DeCesare, whose husband, Robert DeCesare Jr., was killed, said he was shot while protecting her and the couple’s daughter. The shooting also wounded restaurant manager Stephen Bertman and patron Brianna Surette.
According to court documents, Nadeau was charged in April with simple assault after he was accused of shoving a grocery store manager to the ground. The two sides agreed in September to place the misdemeanor charge on the file and drop it if Nadeau maintained his good behavior.
Dave Manganiello, the chef, said he knew Nadeau when he was a banquet server at the club several years ago. In an interview in September, he described Nadeau as extremely arrogant, but said he did not believe he was capable of committing violent crimes.
“He wasn’t as sweet as pie or the nicest guy I’d ever met,” Manganiello said.
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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.