LEBANON, N.H. (AP) — A judge set bail at $500,000 on Tuesday for a New Hampshire man charged with stabbing two people and setting fire to a church and two other buildings.
Anthony Boisvert, 27, of Lebanon, started yelling during his arraignment in Lebanon District Court as the judge tried to set his bail. Boisvert appeared without a lawyer; he filed court paperwork seeking an attorney.
Authorities say they were looking for Boisvert in the Dec. 28 fire at the First Baptist Church in Lebanon when they responded to a call Jan. 1 about two stabbings at a Lebanon condominium complex. The victims suffered serious injuries and identified Boisvert as their attacker, according to authorities. Police found him about an hour later.
He’s charged with two counts of first-degree assault and three counts of arson.
One of the persons stabbed, Wade Bennett, told police he and Boisvert had a campfire on Dec. 28 and later went back to Bennett’s apartment. In a police affidavit, he said Boisvert talked about “doing something big in Lebanon,” and told him to watch the news. The next morning, he saw the news about the church fire.
The affidavit said when Boisvert was interviewed by the police, he admitted to the stabbings, because the two victims “had talked to police about him.” He told police he set an American flag on fire at the church and left, according to the affidavit. He then started a fire in another building because “he knew that some children lived there.”
Boisvert also talked about starting a fire at an abandoned house in January 2016, the affidavit said.
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