New Jersey Man Accused Of Second-Degree Murder In Bedford Hotel Deaths

BEDFORD, NH — Two people were killed in the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford on South River Road on Saturday — with a New Jersey man charged with murder.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office said Bedford Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls around 7 p.m. at the Country Inn and Suites. There, they found two adult males were dead, one in the lobby and a second in a hotel room.

Theodore Luckey, 42, of Asbury Park, New Jersey, has been arrested on second-degree murder charges for killing two men. Luckey was also charged with three counts of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon.

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Based upon the information gathered so far, this incident appears to be contained and the individuals involved have been identified, according to officials. At this time, there is no reason to believe that there is a threat to the public.

Autopsies are expected to be completed and additional information will be released as it becomes available while protecting the integrity of the investigation.

A hotel guest from Chicago told Patch about at least one attack between a suspect and a victim. The witness said he had gone to the third floor of the hotel and a man he described as tall and black, with red hair asked him, “What is there to do around here?” The witness said he was here for work so didn’t know and asked the man where he was from. The man stated he was from New Jersey.

The witness then went to the first floor after getting ice on the third floor and suddenly saw “a white man running, holding up his pants, and bloody.” As he ran by, the tall black man had a machete in his hand and hit the victim in the back of the head with the machete.

The man with the machete chased the other man behind the front desk and continually stabbed the man to death.

The witness said he tried to stay behind the furniture to protect himself from the man with the machete. He also said another guest with a child ran from the lobby. He described a broken window on the second floor that he believes a victim jumped through in an attempt to escape the attacker and said the hallway in the lobby was covered in blood.

The man said police routinely make “rounds” outside the hotel, stay for a short time, and then leave. He said an officer had been at the hotel about two minutes before the incident unfolded.

As police responded to the hotel for multiple calls for help, guests were evacuated from the hotel and moved down the hill to the edge of South River Road. Police from Goffstown, Merrimack, Manchester, Hillsborough County Sheriff, and State Police flooded the area assisting Bedford police.

As the incident unfolded, guests gathered at the bottom of the hill away from the hotel. 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.

After about three hours, 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.

A trooper from the New Hampshire State Police interviewed all the guests individually and took statements from them. After interviews were done, there was an effort to retrieve medicine for the guests and a small dog left in the hotel room was reunited with its owner by a trooper.