Two Found Dead in Alstead Home

By Trisha Nail
THE KEENE SENTINEL
ALSTEAD — The Attorney General’s Office Friday released more details on the shooting that left two people dead Thursday night, saying a man shot and killed his wife and then himself in their home.

Police identified them as Alicia Lawlor, 42, and her husband, Steven Lawlor, 56.

N.H. State Police officers were dispatched to Bonnie Brae Drive just before 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, where they found the two dead inside a home, according to a news release the Attorney General’s Office issued Friday afternoon.

The AG’s Office said N.H. Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mitchell Weinberg conducted autopsies on the Lawlors on Friday and determined each died from a single gunshot wound. Weinberg deemed Alicia Lawlor’s death a homicide and Steven Lawlor’s death a suicide, the release states.

Though the AG’s Office didn’t specify the street address of the shooting, yellow caution tape was stretched in front of the property at 44 Bonnie Brae Drive on Friday. That same address was mentioned in reporting of the incident over the local dispatch scanner Thursday night. The property has a mobile home and garage, and three SUVs and a pickup truck were parked in the driveway. A children’s playhouse and a small pink bicycle were in the front yard.

Neighbor Amanda Lynn Anders said Friday she’s lived on Bonnie Brae Drive almost 34 years and knew the Lawlors well.

“It was very much a shock,” she said. “[Alicia and Steven] were really nice people — they were really good to their dogs and really good parents. They always had a smile on their faces, and they’d wave whenever we drove by them on the road.”

Anders said she heard two gunshots just after 7 p.m. Thursday while watching TV with her children.

“I didn’t think anything of it because we live in the country, and people target practice all the time,” she said. “We have hunters around here, [and] we hear gunshots and firecrackers all the time.”

A former neighbor called Anders to see if she and her children were OK, alerting her to the incident. She said she went to the Lawlors’ home “immediately” and that when she arrived at 7:15 p.m., State Police were already there.

The Lawlors’ two daughters were sitting in the driveway of the home, according to Anders. She said one of them told her their parents “were gone.”

“I used to be their babysitter,” Anders said. “[The Lawlors] have lived down there for about 13 years … and we would just keep an eye on each other’s houses when we were gone. It’s a very tight, close-knit neighborhood where we look out for one another.”

The investigation into the incident remains active and ongoing, the AG’s Office said in the release.

If you or a loved one is experiencing domestic violence, MCVP: Crisis & Prevention Center’s 24/7 hotline is at 1-888-511-6287. Confidential advocates are also available to help through New Hampshire’s Statewide Domestic and Sexual Violence Helpline at 1-866-644-3574.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.