Victor Rivera, 49, of Nashua, has been found guilty in the shooting deaths of Patricia Swett and Matthew Champagne. Courtesy photo/Nashua Police Department

NASHUA – Following a five-day trial, Victor Rivera, 49, of Nashua, was found guilty on Jan. 14 in the shooting deaths of his former girlfriend, Patricia Swett, and Swett’s boyfriend, Matthew Champagne.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., on Sept. 29, 2023, Nashua Police responded to the Maple Street parking lot after receiving reports of shots fired.

According to police, Swett, 45, of Nashua, and Champagne, 44, of Manchester, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Rivera was taken into custody on Sept. 30, 2023 for “knowingly causing the deaths of the two victims by shooting them, and alternatively, for recklessly causing the deaths of the two victims under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and could now be sentenced to life in prison.

Murder victims Matthew Champagne of Manchester and his girlfriend Patricia Swett of Nashua. Courtesy photo

During the trial, Rivera said he suspected that he and Champagne, his friend of seven years, were dating Swett at the same time. When he confronted them about it, they insisted that nothing romantic was going on and demanded that Rivera apologize for making false accusations.

Rivera reached his breaking point on the evening of Sept. 29, 2023 when he saw the couple at Slade’s Food and Spirits and followed them to the parking lot.

“That was it, I just blasted them,” he said. “I had no control over anything, it’s all blurs.”

Attorney Maya Dominguez, counsel for Rivera, argued that her client’s judgment was clouded by emotion after he saw Swett and Champagne at Slade’s.

“He reacted and was unaware of what he was doing,” she said. “All thought stopped, he was shocked, stunned and overwhelmed. His conscious self became a helpless passenger.”

Prosecuting Attorney Adam Woods countered saying that the first shot, directed at Swett, was at point-blank range.

“That first shot is how we know that what the defendant did was not in a blind rage, it was a shot with purpose,” said Woods.

He also said Rivera, armed with a Glock 23 semiautomatic pistol, fired his weapon seven times during the altercation.

“He sent those bullets ripping through their bodies,” said Woods. “The defendant walked away and left them lying dead and bleeding on the asphalt.”

A sentencing date has not been set.