Man charged in downtown stabbing claims self-defense

MANCHESTER, NH – Manchester Police have made an arrest in connection with a stabbing incident that happened in the area of Union Street and Litchfield Lane that occurred on July 27, 2023.

Officers responded to the area of Union Street and Litchfield Lane about 10:50 p.m. and found a man with a non-life-threatening stab wound to his upper arm.

The victim told police an unknown man was not allowing his friend to park near his apartment. He went outside to talk to the man, and they got into a physical altercation which is when the victim was stabbed.

Surveillance video captured a suspect wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with stripes, and as part of the investigation, photos of the individual were dispersed through social media.

Manchester Police identified the suspect as Edgardo Molina, 34, of New Boston. Molina was charged with first-degree assault and booked in absentia as he was already being held on an unrelated domestic violence charge.

Molina appeared in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District Monday where his defense attorney said this is a case of self-defense. Molina allegedly was walking down the alley and looking down at his cell phone and the driver aggressively came at him.

Molina maintains a man came out of an apartment and confronted him aggressively, with the two going chest to chest.  Molina, in defending himself, took out a knife, described in court as being 7 to 8 inches long.

The defense said the man was slashed, not stabbed, when Molina was waving the knife in an attempt to keep the man away from him.

Molina has multiple criminal convictions, probation violations and a pending domestic charge. Prosecutors said he is a danger to the public and the victim in the domestic violence case. Prosecutors asked Judge William Delker to hold him on preventative detention.

The attorney said that the probation violation was because he did not know who he was to report to.

The defense said Molina is currently working, has lived in New Hampshire his entire life, and would live with his parents in New Boston and not come to Manchester.   He also is concerned about getting documents need to enroll his children in school.

Delker ordered Molina held in preventative detention in the Valley Street jail.  He suggested an evidentiary hearing be scheduled to discuss the facts surrounding self-defense claim.

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