Records Detail Warnings About Husband Before Keene Deaths

On June 17, police interviewed someone close to Donna Fairbanks who said she had described her husband as becoming more delusional.

Newly released police records show Donna Fairbanks had alerted officers days before her death that her husband’s behavior had changed sharply and that she did not know where he kept his firearms.

Donna Fairbanks and Chandler Fairbanks were discovered dead at their home on Hurricane Road in Keene on June 16. The state medical examiner ruled Donna Fairbanks’s death a homicide by firearm and Chandler Fairbanks’s death a suicide by firearm.

According to police records, Donna Fairbanks contacted police on June 9 after reporting her husband missing. In that account, she described him as despondent and said she feared he was dealing with dementia, depression and other mental health problems.

The same report says she was especially alarmed by signs that he might be thinking about suicide and by what she believed were delusions. She also told officers that he owned multiple guns, but she did not know where they were stored or how many he had.

Police documented that they advised her on how to keep track of him. The report also says a friend told officers that Chandler Fairbanks had been acting unusually.

Another person, an insurance agent who had recently spoken with Chandler Fairbanks, told police he had also appeared strange in the week before the deaths.

Investigators later found four guns inside the home. A June 16 police report says Chandler Fairbanks was found holding a revolver. The Attorney General’s Office said Donna Fairbanks had been shot more than once, while Chandler Fairbanks died from a gunshot wound to the head.

That same report notes a binder containing wills and medical directives for both Donna and Chandler Fairbanks was sitting on the kitchen counter.

On June 17, police interviewed someone close to Donna Fairbanks who said she had described her husband as becoming more delusional and believing people were targeting him. That person told investigators they had been worried about her because of the concerns she had shared.

Donna Fairbanks had long worked as an educator in the Keene area, spending decades at Keene Middle School. Chandler Fairbanks had served in the state House and remained active in Republican politics locally.

If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, call or text 988 for the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741741.