New Jersey man pleads guilty to Bedford double murder

Nov. 7—Theodore Luckey drove to New Hampshire on Aug. 21, 2021, from New Jersey in hopes of making amends with a former boyfriend he met in prison, but he also had other plans, a prosecutor said.

Before leaving Asbury Park, N.J., Luckey, 44, went to a hardware store and bought a machete. He wanted to be "prepared for the worst" if things didn't go as he wanted with Nathan Cashman of Manchester, said prosecutor Adam Woods during a plea and sentencing hearing Monday in Hillsborough Superior Court.

On Aug. 21, Luckey killed Cashman, 28, after chasing him around several floors of the Country Inn & Suites on South River Road in Bedford. Cashman had more than 120 chop wounds to his head, face, neck, torso and extremities.

Hours earlier, Luckey had killed the man he had traveled with, David Hanford, 60, of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, after tying his hands and feet to the bed using clear tape, electrical cords from the lamps and shoe laces in room 332, according to the prosecutor. A belt was around his neck and tape wrapped around his mouth, Woods said.

On Monday, Luckey pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced by Judge William Delker to life in prison without parole.

Luckey and Cashman met in prison, where Luckey had been relocated from New Jersey. The two were cellmates and developed an intimate relationship over the course of years.

In New Jersey, Luckey became distraught and couldn't function after finding out Cashman had gone back to his ex-girlfriend and no longer wanted to be with him, Woods said.

On the night of the murders, surveillance footage showed Cashman burst through the door of room 304 around 7 p.m. and Luckey chased him around with the machete. Cashman jumped out the second floor of the hotel before being brutally killed in the hotel lobby where he was trying to get help.

Cashman's family, including his 83-year-old grandmother, embraced each other and held their heads down as the details of the grisly murder were read by Woods. One collected a bunch of tissues from the front of the courtroom before the hearing began.

The plea and sentencing hearing was preceded by a competency hearing after evaluations were ordered by Delker. Attorney Anthony Sculimbrene described Luckey as catatonic and not responsive when he first met.

During her victim witness statement, Cashman's grandmother, Eileen Cashman, pointed directly at the 6-foot-7 Luckey, who sat up straight in his chair.

"Who do you think you are?" she said to Luckey. "You chose who would live and who would die.

"

Nathan Cashman's cousin, Brittany Hunt, called Luckey a "monster."

Four other family members spoke.

Before the sentencing, Luckey requested that a phone conversation he had with Cashman be played in court. The two could be heard laughing and saying "I love you" multiple times.

Luckey spoke for nearly an hour during an allocution statement, in which he did not hold back on details.

Luckey said he "self-destructed" after the breakup with Cashman. He said he was blindsided and never saw it coming. He took long pauses and swayed back and forth during his statement and showed the courtroom a picture of the night at the Puritan.

He compared the situation to the game Clue and said he was the murderer. He mentioned the TV show "Snapped," a true crime television show, in which lovers are often murdered.

"When I figured out in my head that I was nothing but an ATM machine to him and he used me, those dark thoughts became real," Luckey said.

"I don't regret doing what I did, whatsoever," he said. "I never will. I can look in the mirror every day, every day and be OK with it. I can walk around and stand tall, 'Yes, I did what I did.' But Nathan Elliot Cashman ... If he didn't lie, if he didn't cheat, if he didn't use me, guess what? He would still be alive today."

For the first time, it was revealed in court how Luckey was connected to Hanford. The two had an intimate relationship after meeting in prison in the early 2000s, where Luckey was being held on charges of a sexual assault on a underage victim.

Luckey was sentenced to 15 years on charges of kidnapping and criminal restraint and contempt.

The court hearing lasted nearly five hours.

The family said Luckey smiled and blew kisses at them as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

"Burn in hell," Hunt yelled.