Nashua man, 47, arrested in Friday night double slaying

Victor Rivera

NASHUA - A Nashua man has been arrested on murder charges in a double homicide that occurred in Nashua on Friday.

Autopsies on the bodies have determined that both victims died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The autopsies conducted on Saturday also resulted in both deaths being classified as homicides, which means they were committed by another.

The bodies of Patricia Swett, 45, of Nashua, and Matthew Champagne, 44, of Manchester were found around 10:30 p.m. on Friday after Nashua police responded to calls reporting gunshots in the area of the Maple Street parking lot. Upon arrival, officers found Swett and Champagne deceased from apparent gunshot wounds.

Victor Rivera, 47, was arrested on Saturday on two counts of second degree murder for knowingly causing the deaths of the two by shooting them with a firearm; and alternatively, on two counts of second degree murder for recklessly causing their deaths under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life by shooting them with a firearm.

Rivera is expected to be arraigned on Monday at Hillsborough County Superior Court - Southern District, in Nashua, at a time to be determined.