NASHUA — Victor Rivera, the Nashua man accused of gunning down a man and woman in a downtown parking lot in September, has been indicted on four charges stemming from the incident, according to court documents.
A grand jury handed up the four-count indictment, which charges Rivera with two counts of second-degree murder for knowingly causing the deaths of Patricia Swett, 45, of Nashua, and Matthew Champagne, 44, of Manchester, and two additional counts of second-degree murder for recklessly causing their deaths “under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to the indictments.
Rivera, 48, is next due in Superior Court on Friday, March 1, for a dispositional conference.
According to acquaintances of Swett and Champagne, the two had just left Slade’s Food & Spirits, a neighborhood bar on West Hollis Street near the corner of Maple Street, and were walking to a nearby parking lot when they were both shot, allegedly by Rivera.
A motive for the shooting has not been revealed.
Police at the time of the incident said that officers were called to the parking lot, which is between Elm and Maple streets, around 10:30 p.m. for reports of shots fired and two people lying on the ground between two parked vehicles.
Arriving officers and medical personnel discovered Swett and Champagne “deceased from apparent gunshot wounds,” police said at the time.
