Knife Attack Over Drugs Leads To Charges In Nashua: Affidavit

NASHUA, NH — A Nashua man faces numerous charges after being accused of attacking two people with knives during a burglary and robbery incident over drugs.

Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, officers were sent to Burke Street for a report of a woman being stabbed in the leg. During the course of the investigation of the incident, police learned the woman's boyfriend may have also sustained injuries and were sent to Major Drive. When officers went to that address, they found a man who had been stabbed in the back and head.

The man and the woman were taken to Saint Joseph's Hospital for treatment. Both victims accused Michael Harju, 36, of no fixed address in Nashua, of stabbing them, an affidavit stated.

About an hour later, a woman on Mason Street reported a man was at her home, "unconscious and bleeding," with knife wounds. EMTs were sent to the home and later, took that man to the hospital. The man, Harju, was later taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment, according to an affidavit.

Detectives interviewed the victims with the man stating that on Burke Street, he heard the woman and Harju "engaged in a physical altercation," the report alleged. The victim said Harju "was uttering that he wanted the drugs and was attempting to obtain a backpack that belonged to (the woman)," the report stated. The man accused Harju of stabbing him multiple times, the report said, and cutting the woman with a butcher knife.

On Mason Street, the detectives spoke to the woman who said Harju arrived "unannounced" while "covered in blood," the affidavit said. They received a consent search of the address and found bloody shoes as well as two backpacks, the report stated. One of the backpacks contained a medicine bottle belonging to the female victim in the case, the affidavit said, "as well as various suspected illicit drugs."

The woman at the home accused Harju of telling her to put the backpacks and his shoes in a closet, the affidavit stated. She threw his bloody clothes in a washing machine, the report said.

On Burke Street, police gathered up "multiple items of evidentiary value" including the butcher knife and a folding knife, and issued an arrest warrant against Harju.

On Oct. 13, Harju was arrested on a warrant at Massachusetts General Hospital by Boston police and waived extradition on Oct. 14. During an interview, police accused him of admitting to the robbery for the drugs and stabbing both of the victims before obtaining the backpack and fleeing the residence, an affidavit said.

Nashua police charged Harju with eight counts of first-degree assault, burglary, and robbery, all felonies. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Hillsborough County Superior Court South.

Police are asking anyone with more information about the case to contact the department's Crime Line at 603-589-1665.

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

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