Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS The state police Major Crime Unit is stationed outside the main entrance to the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford Sunday as troopers and local officers investigated Saturday's double murder. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

State and local police, along with representatives of the state Attorney General’s office, worked overnight and into Sunday investigating the incident, which led to the arrest of Theodore Luckey just hours after they responded to the hotel, at 250 South River Road, after receiving multiple 911 calls, according to authorities.

They said the two men, who haven’t been identified, were found deceased by first-arriving police units. One victim was found in the hotel lobby, and the other was discovered in a hotel room.

Witnesses described a grisly scene in the lobby of the hotel. One witness, a Chicago resident staying at the hotel, said he was in the lobby when he suddenly saw “a white man, running … holding up his pants, and bloody.”

The guest said the man was being pursued by “a tall Black man (with) a machete in his hand,” who allegedly “hit the victim in the back of the head with the machete.”

Theodore Luckey, 42, of Asbury Park, New Jersey

Authorities, citing the integrity of the ongoing investigation, haven’t yet provided that level of detail, nor have they discussed the nature of the circumstances surrounding the incident, such as whether Luckey was familiar with one or both victims, or what prompted the spate of violence that left two men dead and several witnesses and guests shaken.

Kate Giaquinta, a spokeswoman for state Attorney General John Formella, provided a measure of assurance to the public, saying that based on the information gathered so far, “there is no reason to believe that there is any threat to the public.”

The incident “appears to be contained and the individuals involved have been identified,” Giaquinta added.

In addition to the two counts of second-degree murder, police charged Luckey with three counts of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon.

Luckey was booked on the charges and ordered held in jail pending arraignment, which will occur in Hillsborough County Superior Court North, likely on Monday or Tuesday.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS State and local police officers gather on Sunday at Bedford's Incident Command vehicle to discuss their findings while investigating Saturday evening's double murder inside the Country Inn & Suites hotel in Bedford. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

Giaquinta said additional information may be released once autopsies are conducted on the bodies of the two victims.

The guest from Chicago, meanwhile, told media representatives that moments before the violence broke out, he had gone to the third floor to get some ice.

There, a man he described as “tall, Black and having red hair” asked him, ‘what is there to do around here?'” The visitor replied that he was in town for work, so he didn’t know.

He then asked the man where he was from, and he said New Jersey, according to the visitor.

It was just as he returned to the first-floor lobby that the Chicago visitor said he saw a bloody man run past him with the Black man in pursuit.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Two guests who initially had to leave their dog behind when ordered to evacuate their room at the Country Innn & Suites in Bedford Saturday evening were later reunited with their pet. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

The visitor said that as the victim and alleged assailant ran past him, he ducked behind furniture to protect himself.

From there, he said he watched a man with a young child run from the lobby. He said he then saw the alleged assailant corner the victim behind the front desk and continue to stab him.

The visitor said he later noticed a second-floor window was broken, and it appeared as though the victim had jumped through the window to try and escape the alleged assailant.

Authorities said the second victim’s body was found in a hotel room, but it’s not clear if it was the room with the broken window.

Bedford police, fire and EMS personnel were initially called to the hotel for a medical emergency, but moments after arriving they requested mutual aid law enforcement personnel to assist in setting up a perimeter around the hotel.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS State and Bedford police officers arrive at the scene of Saturday evening's double murder at the Country Inn & Suites hotel in Bedford. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

A be-on-the-lookout bulletin, or BOLO, was radioed to all departments in the region, telling officers to be on the lookout for a “tall, skinny Black male with red hair,” according to the broadcast.

The bulletin indicated the suspect left the scene in a white Hyundai, according to the reports. A little more than an hour later, at about 8:40 p.m., word came down that the suspect had been located and was in custody.

Meanwhile, hotel guests who had been evacuated gathered at the corner of South River Road, down the hill from the hotel. They were told they would not be able to return to the hotel for hours.

Many were clearly shaken from the incident. As time passed, guests were concerned about getting their belongings and, in some cases, accessing their medicine and pets that were locked in the hotel.

Roughly three hours later, a school bus arrived to transport people described as “long-term guests” to another hotel. People arriving at the hotel to check-in and not knowing what had transpired were turned away, and police suggested they find alternative accommodations.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A couple that was among the two dozen or so guests evacuated Saturday evening from the Country Inn & Suites after a man allegedly killed two other men in the hotel get instructions from a Bedford police officer about retrieving their belongings from their room. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

A state police trooper interviewed each of the guests individually and took statements from them. After interviews were completed, police assisted guests in retrieving their medicine, and in one case, locating the dog and reuniting it with its owners.

This article includes reporting by Patch NH and Telegraph contributor Jeffrey Hastings.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter