Inset: Chandler Walden (Londonderry Police Dept.). Background: The Londonderry, New Hampshire, home where Walden allegedly tried to kill his sister and her friend (Google Maps).
A 29-year-old man in New Hampshire is accused of nearly killing his sister and her friend, allegedly attacking the duo with a hatchet and a steak knife after saying that he was going to end “years of abuse.”
Chandler Walden was taken into custody Sunday and charged with eight felonies, including two counts of attempted murder, three counts of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, and three counts of second-degree assault, including a domestic violence-related count involving serious bodily injury, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Londonderry Police Department, officers responded to a residence in the 100 block of Chase Road at 8:50 p.m. on March 15 regarding a reported stabbing. Upon arriving, first responders found two victims outside the home “suffering from multiple stab wounds” as bystanders were rendering aid. Authorities said they learned the suspect had “retreated” inside the residence and was known to the victims.
Officers made contact with Walden at the home and took him into custody “without incident,” police said. Both victims were transported by the Londonderry Fire Department to separate hospitals in serious condition with “multiple stab wounds and lacerations.”
Due to the seriousness of the allegations against Walden, detectives responded to process the scene.
One of the victims Walden allegedly attacked was identified as his sister by Manchester ABC affiliate WMUR.
Court documents obtained by the New Hampshire Union Leader provided additional details, alleging Walden used both a hatchet and a steak knife in the attack.
In charging documents, prosecutors allege Walden “purposely attempt[ed] to cause the death” of the two women by “striking [them] with a hatchet and steak knife, both deadly weapons in the manner they were used,” with both victims suffering multiple injuries to the head and torso.
According to a probable cause affidavit, while Walden was being arrested, an officer “noted he had blood on his neck and hands.” During a subsequent pat-down, the officer asked if Walden had any weapons on him and he reportedly replied that he had “left them in his room.”
One of the women told investigators Walden and his sister had been arguing earlier in the day before going out. The sister and friend later returned to the home and found Walden “spraying Febreze around the house when he then began to yell” before going after his sister.
The other victim said she tried to intervene and was also assaulted, later telling police she could not confirm whether Walden used a hatchet because her glasses had been knocked off in the mayhem.
That victim also reportedly told investigators she heard Walden say, “After all the years of abuse, it ends tonight. I’m going to end this tonight.”
Detectives later executed a search warrant on the home and recovered the alleged weapons from a trash can in Walden’s bedroom.
The defendant is currently being held at the Rockingham County House of Corrections without bond. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for March 25.
