Below is photo of Robert DeCesare, 59, who was shot to death Saturday night while having dinner with family at the restaurant at Sky Haven Country Club in Nashua. Family photo

By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

The Nashua man accused of shooting three people – one of them fatally – at the Sky Haven Country Club Saturday night faced a judge Monday afternoon in a very brief hearing in which he waived arraignment.

Hunter Nadeau, 23, appeared via video from Hillsborough County Jail in Manchester on screen at Nashua Circuit Court before Judge Tara Spony charged with the second-degree murder of Robert DeCesare, 59, who was having dinner at the club with family Saturday at around 7:30 p.m. when he was shot to death with a pistol.

The autopsy showed the cause of Robert DeCesare’s death was multiple gunshot wounds, and that the manner of death was homicide, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Details of that night remain in sealed court records. Family members of Robert DeCesare told several news outlets that he was trying to protect his family when he was shot.

The court sealed the affidavit, search warrant, arrest warrant, and probable cause statement, basically all records except the basic criminal complaint.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley told reporters after the hearing that he was limited in what he could say about the incident because the records are sealed, which is common practice in homicides.

Hinckley did say it appears to be a random shooting and Mr. DeCesare wasn’t targeted, nor were the other two individuals who were shot. Hinckley declined to identify those victims but said one has non-life-threatening injuries and the other was more seriously injured and remains hospitalized.

Hinckley didn’t directly address published reports that Robert DeCesare stood up to the shooter except to talk about people who were present and acted heroically to try and stop the shooter.

“There were civilians who acted selflessly and heroically and more lives likely would have been lost and more people would have been injured if not for the selfless acts of people…,” Hinckley said.

Attorney General John Formella addressed statements such as “Free Palestine” that Nadeau allegedly made during the shootings, which lasted less than a minute, saying evidence indicates the shootings were not hate crimes, but the statements were made to create chaos.

At the hearing Monday, Judge Spony told Nadeau that he will continue to be held without bail, that he waived arraignment and will appear for a probable cause hearing on Oct. 1.

Nadeau told the judge understood and had time to meet with his attorney.

Authorities said on Sunday that one of the unidentified non-fatal shooting victims was a patron and the other was an employee who was working as a host at a wedding event that was held next to the restaurant. The employee was more seriously injured and airlifted to a Boston hospital.

Four other people sustained injuries trying to leave the club after the shooting, Formella said at a press conference.

Formella said statements that Nadeau reportedly made during the shootings such as “Free Palestine” do not indicate any hate-related motive.

“There have been reports he made certain statements such as ‘Free Palestine,’ but based on the evidence we gathered…we don’t have any evidence at this time that indicate Mr. Nadeau was motivated by hate-based motives.

“In fact I would say the evidence leads us to believe it is more likely that Mr. Nadeau was trying to make a number of statements to create chaos in the moment,” Formella said.

Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said Nadeau was found in a nearby neighborhood within 30 minutes of the shootings. He wouldn’t say if Nadeau was still armed.