Laconia man charged with attempted murder

James Flanders, 40, of Laconia is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder, attempted first-degree assault, being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon, two counts of burglary and two counts of reckless conduct.

On Wednesday, Judge Amy Ignatius ordered Flanders held on preventative detention, meaning he is being held without bail in the Carroll County Jail. He did not appear in court.

Flanders was represented by public defender Justin Littlefield. The prosecutor was Assistant County Attorney Keith Blair.

Details of what led to the arrest are spelled out in a probable cause affidavit written by State Police Sgt. William Bright.

Bright said that, on Tuesday at 5:01 a.m., a passerby called dispatch to say he had been followed by a silver car and that he heard two bangs and thought they could be gunshots.

A short time later, a woman living on Orchard Road called police to say her roommate’s boyfriend, later identified as Flanders, had been in the driveway and smashed a window.

While responding to that call, Wolfeboro police officer Eric Larochelle reported seeing Flanders driving toward him.

He pulled Flanders over.

“Flanders’ hands were covered in blood from lacerations on his hands and wrists,” wrote Bright. “Officer Larochelle spoke with Flanders, who stated that he believed his girlfriend was being assaulted and he went there to help her.”

Flanders was treated by a paramedic while an Alton police officer stood by.  He was taken to Huggins Hospital and later to Carroll County’s jail.

Meanwhile, Larochelle went to the girlfriend's home, where he met with her and her roommate.

"(The woman) told officer Larochelle that she had been sleeping in her bed when she was awakened by the window breaking,” said Bright. “(She) also stated that she felt hands grasping around her hair, but got away screaming.”

Flanders told Larochelle “he had tried to pull (his girlfriend) through the window to save her from the men in the house.”

Bright said police found holes in the wall in the woman's bedroom, in the hallway, on “the other side of the main door, and an impact site on the wall between the storm door and the main door.”

Police also found several bullets near the Orchard Road home and collected them as evidence, Bright said, adding they also found a bullet casing in the driveway.

“Reddish brown stains were located inside the woman’s bedroom on the window frame as well as part of the pieces from the broken glass window,” said Bright. “Reddish brown stains were also located on the sheet of the woman's bed and the curtain from the window.

“Several bullet defects were located in the residence to indicate a flight path from the exterior of the residence through the broken window over the bed where the woman had been sleeping, to the front door where Officer Larochelle had previously located a projectile,” according to the affidavit.

A bullet casing and reddish stains also were found in the Volvo that Flanders was driving that belongs to Flanders’ sister, Bright said.

Flanders’ mother, Amber Flanders, told New Hampshire Major Crimes detectives that her son had become “increasingly more paranoid” and was  “seeing things that weren’t there,” said Bright.

She told Bright her son recently showed her photos that he said showed “bad things” happening to his girlfriend but the woman was not actually in those photos.

Flanders' sister told police she didn’t know her brother had taken her car until her mother called to ask her to go look.

"She realized her Volvo was missing and Flanders’s BMW was parked in her driveway,” said Bright.

Flanders is charged with a count of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon because he had been convicted in New Hampshire’s federal court on a count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics.

For allegedly shooting at Hutchins, Flanders is charged with reckless conduct.

The burglary charges say Flanders entered the home when it was not open to the public with the purpose to commit first-degree assault.