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Man charged with murder of grandmother in Easton

A 23-year-old was arrested after his grandmother was found dead in her Easton home, authorities said. Joshua Lanchester, 23, was charged with second-degree murder, officials said. According to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, emergency dispatchers received a call about a medical emergency at a home on North Peak Drive around 11:40 a.m. >> Download the free WMUR app for updates on the go: Apple | Google Play

EASTON, N.H. –

A 23-year-old was arrested after his grandmother was found dead in her Easton home, authorities said.

Joshua Lanchester, 23, was charged with second-degree murder, officials said.

According to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, emergency dispatchers received a call about a medical emergency at a home on North Peak Drive around 11:40 a.m.

>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: apple | Google Play

When state police arrived, they found Cynthia Lanchester, 76, dead on the ground.

The major crimes unit was stationed outside the home for hours.

“It's sad. She's a nice woman. She’s pretty quiet and keeps to herself,” neighbor Robert Andersen said.

An autopsy was conducted Sunday and the cause of Cynthia Lanchester's death was blunt force trauma to the head and her manner of death was a homicide, the attorney general's office said.

Anderson told News 9 he was shocked that something like this happened in their small town.

“As we were walking today, we saw the yellow caution tape,” Andersen said. “When we came back from the walk an hour later and saw the police car parked there, we knew something was really wrong.”

He said he spoke to Cynthia the day before she died.

Joshua Lanchester is being held without bail and is expected to appear in court on Monday.

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