Originally published in Nashua Ink Link
NASHUA, NH – Hunter Nadeau, accused of killing a man having dinner with his wife and daughter at a local country club, waived arraignment Monday on a second-degree murder charge.
Nadeau, 23, of 1 Bittersweet Road, currently detained in the Valley Street jail in Manchester, appeared briefly Monday afternoon via WebEx in 9th Circuit Court – District Division – Nashua.
Judge Tanya Spony set a probable cause hearing for Oct. 1, 2025 at 10:15 a.m.
She asked Nadeau if he understood he would remain incarcerated. He indicated he did. Nadeau is being held in preventative detention, that is, without bail.
“After that probable-cause hearing, the case is going to be adjourned to superior court, and we’ll have 90 days to present indictments against the defendant,” prosecutor Peter Hinckley said during a news conference after the court hearing.
Nadeau, who last worked at Sky Meadow Country Club about a year ago, is accused of killing Robert Steven DeCesare, 59, and wounding two other people, whose names authorities have not released. He has yet to be charged with shooting the other two people although New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said other charges are likely.
Formella confirmed that Hunter shouted statements, including “Free Palestine,” before firing a pistol killing DeCesare, and wounding two others, one a country club employee.
“At this point, the evidence leads us to believe that it is more likely that Mr. Nadeau was simply trying to make a number of statements to create chaos in the moment,” Formella said at a Sunday news conference. “We don’t have any evidence to indicate that this was a hate-based act.”
Some shooting witnesses said they heard Nadeau yelling phrases like “Free Palestine,” but investigators said they do not believe the shooting was hate-related.
Hinckley said Monday that Nashua police are still investigating the suspect’s motive.
“We’re aware of statements that were reported that he made. The circumstances, whether he actually made them, under what circumstances he made them, are being investigated,” the prosecutor said.
As of now, Nadeau is charged only with second-degree murder even though there are more victims.
“There’s one single charge. The defendant was charged with that because under New Hampshire state law, under that single charge that’s a no-bail charge,” said Hinckley. “We understand and realize there are additional victims. We anticipate there will be additional charges that both relate to those victims who have not been named yet as well as the murder victim.”
Authorities said Nadeau and DeCesare, who stepped between the gunman and his wife and daughter to protect them, did not know each other.
Rob Parsons, owner of Sky Meadow Country Club and who lives 300 yards from the DeCesares, said Sky Meadow and the city of Nashua are a “safe, tight-knit communities” built on fellowship, compassion and resilience.” Those values have been on full display in the more than 3,000 of messages of support he has personally received, he said.
“We will not let the cowardly acts of this perpetrator define us through our community,”Parsons said.
He said he spoke with Charlene DeCesare Monday morning, describing her as “a rock” and a “remarkable woman.”
She provided him with a statement which he read:
“As devastated and traumatized as we are feeling right now, I know this has to be incredibly hard for everyone at Sky,” she said. “But we need to take from this is just what an incredible community we have here. The outpouring of love, support, food, even offers to sit with me and make sure I’m not alone, the little things and the big things that are beyond words. The people at Sky are my heart right now and I am forever grateful. And if anyone who lives on the third fairway could give me a lifetime pass to keep putting balls in their backyard that would be a bonus.”
Parsons said DeCesare apologized for the last remark but he said she was just trying to find some levity at this tragic moment.
Earlier, in a statement to ABC News, she spoke about her husband. “You’d be hard pressed to find a man more loved, not only by his family but by his many groups of friends from golf, poker, and pickleball,” she said.
The other victims include an employee, the host, who was shot first near the restrooms at the country club. That employee is currently hospitalized at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in stable condition.
The shooter then entered the restaurant, The Prime at Sky Meadow, where DeCesare was shot and killed and another patron was wounded. Authorities have not disclosed the condition of the second victim.
Officials have not released their names or the identities of several others who were injured in trying to stop the gunman or fleeing the chaotic scene.
Formella said two individuals “put aside care for their own safety and worked to intervene, stop the shooter, to keep this a much more contained event than it may otherwise have been.”
Media reports indicate DeCesare was one of those individuals who tried to stop the gunman.
The shooting occurred about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, at the Sky Meadow Country Club.
Nadeau allegedly fled the scene, through the kitchen and out a back door, but was arrested about 30 minutes later in a nearby neighborhood.
He had worked at the club a year ago, but authorities did not say whether or not he was fired.