Manslaughter Convict Threatened To Burn Concord Shelter: Police

CONCORD, NH — Police in Concord accuse a man convicted of manslaughter more than 16 years ago of threatening to burn down a homeless shelter, according to a court affidavit.

Robert W. Blair, 64, a homeless man now located in Concord, was arrested at 2:01 a.m. on Nov. 16 on criminal threatening and criminal trespass charges.

According to an affidavit, police were sent to the McKenna House on South Fruit Street for a man threatening to torch the building and throw a chair through a window around 1:45 a.m. Officers spoke to the complainant who said the suspect, Blair, was kicked out of McKenna the day before, “due to his erratic behavior,” an affidavit stated. He also trespassed from the facility at that time, the report said.

About 12:15 a.m., police were sent to the McKenna House due to Blair being at the shelter and he was told to stay away again at that time, the report said. Later, Blair was accused of returning to the house. He was seen on a porch and that is when the threats occurred, an affidavit said.

“(The complainant) informed me that Robert advised that he was going to burn the house down so that ‘everyone could be homeless,’” the affidavit stated.

The complainant also told the officer that Blair had threatened to throw a chair through a window, the officer wrote. He said he was going to leave but the complainant did not believe him, the affidavit stated.

The officer checked the property and found Blair hiding behind a dumpster while holding a metal stick. He was ordered to drop it and did, the report said.

“(Blair) informed me that he was not going to ‘stab’ anyone with it and that he was only going to use it to burn the McKenna House down,” the affidavit said.

The officer asked Blair why he returned when he was told earlier not to be there, the officer wrote. Blair replied, "those f------ are going to be living in a burnt down house pretty soon," the affidavit said.

The complainant said Blair needed to be arrested before someone got hurt and added that he was fearful he would cause "serious damage" if no action was taken, the report stated. Blair was then arrested and held without bail.

Back in June 2005, Blair pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge after being charged with second-degree murder. According to the Laconia Daily Sun, the day after his birthday in May 2004, he and his long-time girlfriend, Donna Bucker, 53, had spent the day drinking heavily. Some time after an argument, Blair struck Bucker in the head. The next day, he took her car to a friend’s home for coffee and spoke about the incident, the newspaper wrote. In a February 2005 story about the case, the Laconia Daily Sun reported court filings where the public defender’s office claimed he was being assaulted and retaliated in self-defense. Blair later agreed to a lesser charge and received a lighter sentence.

According to court documents, a motion for work release was approved for Blair in July 2013. According to Tina Thurber of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, he was released on parole in March 2016. Blair was on parole until June 23. He was re-released again on parole on Oct. 28 until his arrest on the threat and trespass charges.

Blair was also arrested on a domestic violence-violation of a protective order charge after an incident near the state hospital in February 2018, according to a post on Patch.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

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