Man charged with Bedford hotel double murder plans to plead guilty

Jon Phelps, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read

Nov. 7—A former New Jersey man charged with killing two people at a Bedford hotel in August 2021 is expected to plead guilty on Monday.

Last month, Theodore Luckey's lawyer entered a notice of Luckey's intent to plead guilty on two counts of first-degree murder.

A competency hearing is set to take place before the plea hearing at Hillsborough Superior Court in Manchester. Other such hearings have been canceled on March 23, May 13, July 22 and July 28, according to the court docket.

Other charges include two counts of second-degree murder, three counts for knowingly possessing a machete, firearm and metallic knuckles as a felon.

Luckey's lawyer, Robin D. Melone, said in an email she could not comment other than confirm Monday's hearings.

The penalty for first-degree murder in New Hampshire is life in prison without being eligible for parole.

The first-degree murder charges state Luckey purposely caused the death of Nathan Cashman, 28, of Manchester by inflicting "multiple chop wounds" to him with a machete in the lobby of Country Inn & Suites on South River Road and purposely caused the death of David Hanford, 60, of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, by strangling him in a room.

In court documents, Judge William Delker said the "defense indicates there may be an issue relating to (Luckey's) competency to stand trial." Lawyers told a judge they had difficulty obtaining records for out-of-state treatment providers.

Most of the documents in the case have been sealed.

In July, the state pushed to have a competency hearing continued after a doctor from the Office of the Forensic Examiner could not attend.

Luckey had been released from prison early in New Jersey. He left prison on May 7, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

He was released with "public health emergency credits" as part of New Jersey's effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the prison system.

In New Jersey, Luckey pleaded guilty in 2012 to two counts of kidnapping, one count of criminal restraint and one count of contempt. He served prison time in New Hampshire through an arrangement between the states.

He spent time at both the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility in Berlin and the State Prison for Men in Concord between Oct. 11, 2016 and Feb. 5 this year, when he was returned to New Jersey.

Luckey and Cashman met in the state prison in Concord.