PETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) – A Dublin man charged with shooting his estranged wife and another man – critically injuring both – was a week away from finalizing his divorce, friends said.

Friends of David Boutwell, 44, told WMUR-TV that he and Sandra Boutwell, 39, were soon to be divorced when the shooting happened Saturday night at her Peterborough home.

David Boutwell was arraigned Tuesday in Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court on two counts of first degree assault and ordered held on $500,000 cash bail.

Sandra Boutwell and the other victim William Taylor, 34, of Peterborough, were expected to survive, Hillsborough County Attorney Marguerite Wageling said.

The two met at a bar earlier Saturday evening, according to Taylor’s father, Robert Taylor, who said his son is married and has a 4-year-old daughter. Taylor recently had been hired as a sales associate at a real estate firm.

“It’s a tragedy,” Robert Taylor said. “He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He shouldn’t have been there.”

David Boutwell’s uncle, James Boutwell, said the Boutwells filed for divorce about a year ago and had a history of fights.

Police said they found David Boutwell at his home with his young son at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. Neighbors said dozens of officers surrounded the house, and Boutwell surrendered to police around 6 a.m. Sunday.

State and local police are also investigating whether a burglary Saturday night in Dublin was related to the shootings. A resident returned home around 10 p.m. and found an intruder, who fired shots before fleeing, authorities said. No one was injured.

AP-ES-01-02-07 1308EST

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