Joshua Lanchester charged with second degree murder

A man has been charged with murder after allegedly killing his grandmother with a hammer in Easton, New Hampshire, on Saturday, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office announced.

Joshua Lanchester, 23, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after New Hampshire State Police found his grandmother dead in a home, Attorney General John M. Formella’s office said in a press release.

State Police were responding to a 911 call for a medical emergency at the residence at 11:41 a.m. Saturday when they found Cynthia Lanchester, 76, dead on the ground. Authorities said it appeared Lanchester died from a blunt force traumatic injury.

State police also encountered Lanchester while responding to the home. He was arrested Saturday evening.

Easton is a rural town in northern New Hampshire, about six miles west of Interstate-93 in the Franconia Notch State Park area.

Lanchester is being held without bail and is expected to be arraigned Monday in Littleton District Court, Formella’s office said. An autopsy on his grandmother’s body is scheduled for Sunday.

Nick Stoico can be contacted at [email protected].