TUESDAY UPDATE: The man who was found dead on Auburn Street on Monday had been struck, kicked and hit with a blunt object, according to assistant attorney general Peter Hinckley.

The suspect in the case, Richard “Ricky” Munster, 20, of 5 Beard St., Nashua, was remanded without bail Tuesday morning in Nashua District Court after being charged with two alternate counts of second-degree murder, one classified as “knowing” and one as “reckless.”

Prosecutors released little more information about the case, including an alleged motive. The affidavit was sealed at the request of the attorney general’s office.

The name of the victim is being withheld until his family is notified.

“We’re still trying to get hold of next of kin. We’re working diligently on that,” Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said.

The victim’s body is being autopsied today, Hinckley said.

Munster didn’t appear in court, but was arraigned by video from Valley Street Jail in Manchester, where he’s being held. No members of his family or the victim’s family were in District Court when Munster was arraigned.

Defense attorney Soudie Tahmassebipour from New Hampshire Public Defenders Office waived a reading of the complaint. Judge Michael Ryan declined Tahmassebipour’s request that the prosecutor’s office provide her a copy of the sealed affidavit before the discovery phase of the case.

Nashua police received a 911 call at 7 a.m. Monday morning, Hinckley said. When police arrived, they found the victim dead on the street, Hinckley said.

The investigation in the alleged crime in ongoing, Hickley said.

No plea is entered in felony cases during the initial district court hearing.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for June 10.

Ironically, the victim’s body was found just feet from the scene of one of Nashua’s most notorious murders.

In October of 1999, Amy Boyer, 20, was ambushed by a gunman outside the dentist’s office where she worked as she got in her car.

The killer, Liam Youens, who then committed suicide, was a former high school classmate who had stalked her on-line. The case was often cited nationally in efforts to pass cyber-stalking laws.

– PATRICK MEIGHAN

NASHUA – Police have charged a 20-year-old man in the death of an unidentified man found on Auburn Street on Monday morning.

Police said they arrested Ricky Munster, 20, and charged him with second-degree murder Monday but released no other information about him.

Police were called to the area of 7 Auburn St. around 7 a.m. Monday and found a man lying dead in the driveway, near the road of a law office. Police are not releasing the identity of the man, who is in his 50s, pending family notification, according to Attorney General Michael Delaney.

It was a passing motorist who spotted the man’s body and called police, according to police Capt. Bruce Hansen.

About half of Auburn Street, as well as a portion of Beard Street, was roped off with yellow crime scene tape and the Nashua police crime scene truck was parked near the scene all Monday afternoon and into the evening. Police announced they had arrested Munster around 6:30 p.m.

A state medical examiner was on the scene by 10 a.m. to determine how the man died. The state attorney general’s office was notified, and it is working with police on the death investigation.

By around 3 p.m., there was less activity in the area, though the crime scene truck and a number of police cruisers were still parked in the area.

Police were spotted in front of an apartment building on Beard Street and orange evidence markers were set up coming out of the building’s front door and leading to the area where the man’s body was discovered.

Nashua police Capt. Scott Howe declined to comment on how the building might be connected to the alleged murder.

Neighbors said police have visited the Beard Street house a number of times in the past.

“That house is always a problem. There’s always people fighting in there,” said neighbor Ryan LaChapelle.

The blue and white building appeared to house multiple apartments, and two cars, including a beat-up black pickup truck, were parked in front. A Nashua officer was stationed on the front porch and a couple of more officers were in the street in front of the building.

It’s not clear what, if anything, the building or anyone inside had to do with the man’s death.

By around 3:30 p.m., reporters and cameramen from media outlets in Manchester started to arrive in the neighborhood.

LaChapelle and his friend, Justin Kenyon, said it was interesting to watch the police conducting their investigation from their front porch.

“It’s just not something that happens every day,” Kenyon said.

Both men said they didn’t hear anything unusual Sunday night, and neither did Terry Currier, who lives on Auburn Street.

“I didn’t hear anything, and I didn’t see anything,” she said. “I didn’t see anyone wandering around or anything. It’s kind of scary. It’s sad.”

Another neighbor on Beacon Street, who only gave Lucas as his first name, said not knowing what happened was the worst part.

“I doesn’t freak me out, but it does make me wonder,” he said. “The biggest thing is not knowing.

Police have identified the victim and are in the process of notifying his family, Howe said.

“Right now, we’re just trying to figure out what we have here,” he said.

The man, who was lying on the pavement of the driveway close to the edge of Auburn Street, had severe head trauma, Hansen said. He said police are trying to determine how the man ended up on the residential street close to downtown and what he was doing during the 12-14 hours preceding his death.

Munster will be arraigned at Nashua District Court on Tuesday morning, Delaney said.

The assistant attorney general handling the case, Peter Hinckley, was not immediately available for comment.

The building on Beard Street where police were stationed is owned by Hugo and Adriana Gutierrez. It was last sold in June 2004 and is worth about $330,000, according to Nashua assessment data.

The building on Auburn Street near where the man was found houses Garner Law Offices and is surrounded by apartment buildings and single-family homes. It’s owned by Seven Auburn Street Realty Inc. It’s classified as a commercial office building and is worth almost $400,000, according to assessment data.

Hansen said anyone who has information about what happened or heard something happening in that area Sunday night is asked to call police at 594-3500. Anonymous tips can be submitted via the Nashua Crimeline at 589-1665 or on the department’s Web site, nashuapd.com.

The scene garnered a lot of attention from people who came out to see the city’s Memorial Day parade. The parade route passed within a few hundred feet of the crime scene as the bands, Boys Scouts and veterans groups marched by on Amherst Street.

Joseph G. Cote can be reached at 594-6415 or jcote@nashuatelegraph.com.

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