The suspect, Chandler Walden, was later arrested inside the Chase Road home, say police.
LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Two women bleeding from multiple wounds were being helped by neighbors outside a Chase Road home Sunday night when officers arrived and arrested a 29-year-old man now charged with attempted murder, according to police and court documents.
That first image from the scene helps explain why the case drew fast local attention. Before the investigation centered on alleged statements, weapons and court filings, it was an emergency unfolding in a driveway in front of nearby residents. Prosecutors say Chandler Walden attacked his sister and her friend with a hatchet and a steak knife, leaving both seriously injured. The women survived, families have said they are expected to recover, and Walden remains jailed while the criminal case moves toward a probable cause hearing.
Police said the call came in at about 8:50 p.m. on March 15 for a reported stabbing in the 100 block of Chase Road. Officers found the victims outside the residence with multiple stab wounds and lacerations while bystanders rendered aid. NBC Boston and police accounts say the suspect had retreated into the house and was known to the victims. When officers made contact, Walden came out and was taken into custody without incident. In one of the sharper details from the affidavit later cited by local coverage, an officer wrote that Walden had blood on his neck and hands. During the pat-down, police said, he stated that he had left the weapons in his room. Detectives then processed the scene and later sought a search warrant.
From there, investigators reconstructed what they say happened in the minutes before the women ran outside. Court paperwork cited by WMUR, Patch and Law&Crime says Walden had argued earlier with his sister. The women later returned home and found him spraying Febreze around the house. According to the affidavit, he then began yelling and attacked them. One victim told police she tried to place herself between Walden and his sister and was struck too. She described one object as hammer-like because her glasses were knocked off during the struggle, though prosecutors later alleged that Walden used a hatchet and a steak knife. The same victim told investigators she heard him say, “After all the years of abuse, it ends tonight. I’m going to end this tonight.”
The women’s injuries became another major part of the case. Police said both suffered multiple wounds to the head and torso. Local reporting said one woman was taken to Parkland Medical Center and the other to Elliot Hospital. WMUR reported Walden’s sister suffered 10 lacerations, and Patch described roughly 10 lacerations to the torso and head for the other victim. Those details gave prosecutors the basis to argue not only that the assault was violent, but that it was aimed at causing death. After getting a search warrant, detectives said they found the suspected weapons in a trash can in Walden’s bedroom, matching the place officers said Walden had identified after his arrest.
The neighborhood response gave the story a second layer beyond the criminal charges. Dennis Bernabei, a nearby resident, told WMUR he was out with his dogs when he heard screaming and later saw ambulances and police cars flood the street. He said he was shocked the violence happened there. That reaction echoed the tone of local coverage in a town better known for quiet residential blocks than headline crime scenes. The fact that bystanders were already trying to stop bleeding before medics took over showed how public and immediate the emergency became once the women escaped the home.
In court, the case has moved quickly but remains at an early stage. Walden was charged with two counts of attempted murder and several assault felonies, including first-degree assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault charges tied to deadly weapons and serious bodily injury. He appeared in Derry District Court on March 16. Patch reported that he offered no plea, was held on preventive detention and later secured counsel after an initial dispute over whether he qualified for a court-appointed lawyer. He is being held at the Rockingham County House of Corrections, and a probable cause hearing has been scheduled for March 25.
The driveway is no longer an active rescue scene, but its role in the story remains clear. The women made it outside alive, neighbors bought time by helping them, and the case now turns on medical evidence, witness accounts and the weapons police say they recovered from the bedroom trash can.
Author note: Last updated April 8, 2026.