Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Police officers come and go from a shelter set up next to the Nashua Police Crime Investigations van parked in a driveway at 22 Auburn St. over the weekend. A man is accused of killing his grandmother in one of the apartments. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

NASHUA — As the man accused of killing his grandmother in a Nashua apartment waits in jail for Monday’s scheduled court appearance in Lowell, local detectives and representatives of the Attorney General’s office continue to collect evidence and interview witnesses in the case.

The suspect, Jacob Abraham, 27, of 22 Auburn St., is charged with second-degree murder in the death either late Thursday night or early Friday morning of Cynthia Toupin, 71, who investigators say was Abraham’s grandmother.

The warrant issued for his arrest accuses Abraham of “recklessly causing the death” of Toupin “by causing blunt force trauma to her head and/or a puncture wound to her neck, manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to a statement issued by the Attorney General’s office.

Lowell police, acting upon information provided by Nashua and state authorities, tracked down and arrested Abraham at some point during the day Friday, charging and booking him on a fugitive from justice offense.

He was ordered held without bail pending a court appearance in Lowell, which is scheduled for Monday at a time that had yet to be announced as of Sunday night.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS The Nashua police Crime Scene Investigation van is backed into the driveway of 22 Auburn St. over the weekend as investigators work in and around the property following the discovery of a body of a woman whose grandson is accused of fatally assaulting her. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

If Abraham waives extradition, he will be returned to Nashua either later Monday or Tuesday for arraignment in Hillsborough County Superior Court South. He could choose to waive formal arraignment, at which time the judge would issue a bail order — which would almost certainly be preventive detention, meaning held in jail with the option to request that the court schedule a bail hearing.

Investigators haven’t elaborated on the circumstances of the incident, such as a possible motive or whether a particular incident triggered the alleged fatal assault.

Also unclear as yet is whether Abraham has any type of criminal record; his name doesn’t come up in a search of New Hampshire databases.

While authorities list Abraham’s address as 22 Auburn St., it’s unclear if he had been living in one of the four apartments recently.

The house, likely built as a single-family residence around the turn of the 20th century, is owned by a firm called “Auburn Erik LLC,” with an address in Morristown, New Jersey.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A police officer keeps an eye on the apartment building at 22 Auburn St. over the weekend, where a man allegedly killed his grandmother and was later arrested. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

Police said earlier that officers and medical personnel were called to the residence for a medical emergency, and due to the nature of the call police advised responding units to “stage away” from the scene, meaning park nearby to await the all-clear to enter.

Once inside, police said, first responders located a deceased person in one of the apartments.

Police set up a perimeter, cordoning off the immediate area with crime scene tape. They termed the incident a suspicious death as the investigation got underway.

Initially, two or three cruisers and about as many detective cars were parked in front of and to the side of the house, which is on the corner of Locust Street near where Auburn, Locust, Beacon and Highland streets come together at the top of a hill.

Around noon on Saturday, the police department’s crime scene van arrived and backed into the driveway on one side of the house.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Patrol officers and detectives study the area around a doorway on the first floor of 22 Auburn St. as part of the investigation into the murder of a 71-year-old woman, whose body was found inside an apartment. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

Investigators set up a pair of enclosed shelters next to the van to give them space to process evidence.

Telegraph contributor Jeffrey Hastings and The Associated Press provided material for this report.

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

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