Manchester man indicted on murder charge in Lyndeborough hatchet death

By BILL FONDA

Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Published: 03-03-2023 10:43 AM

A Hillsborough County Grand Jury-Southern District has indicted Robert Gagnon, 45, of Manchester, for first-degree murder in the death of 83-year-old Robert Prest in Lyndeborough last Nov. 23, as well as attempted murder in the shooting of Carlos Quintong, 44, in Brookline that same day.

According to a release Thursday from state Attorney General John Formella’s office, Gagnon was indicted Feb. 16 for allegedly intentionally killing Prest by striking him multiple times in the head, and in an alternative count, knowingly causing his death while attempting to commit a robbery using a deadly weapon – a hatchet.

Along with the murder and attempted murder charges, Gagnon was indicted on three counts of theft by unauthorized taking for allegedly taking a Jeep SUV, a firearm owned by Prest and Prest’s BMW sedan.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 23, officers responded to the area of Route 13 and Townsend Hill Road in Brookline for a report of a shooting, where they found Quintong responsive and suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Quintong was transported to the hospital for medical treatment. Later that morning, at approximately 9:21 a.m., officers responded to a home on Center Road in Lyndeborough, where they found Prest dead. According to Formella’s office, an autopsy determined that Prest did from a homicide caused by blunt-impact head injuries.

Gagnon will be arraigned at a date and time to be determined in Hillsborough County Grand Jury-Southern District.

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