NASHUA – Autumn Savoy yesterday shuffled into court manacled and handcuffed, mouthing "I love you" and "Get me out" to his mother in the front row. Gone were the tearful admissions that he was scared and only doing what he was told when he allegedly helped cover up his friends' involvement in last month's deadly home invasion in Mont Vernon.

Savoy, 20, was arraigned in Nashua District Court on a third felony charge of hindering apprehension for allegedly helping two friends throw evidence -- including clothes allegedly worn in the Oct. 4 murder and items stolen from the home -- into the Nashua River not far from his 88 Runnells Bridge Road home in Hollis.

Savoy had already appeared in Milford District Court on Wednesday on charges of hindering apprehension and conspiracy to hinder apprehension for allegedly providing his Brookline friends Steven Spader, 18, and Christopher A. Gribble, 20, with alibis on the night of the murder and helping them dispose of evidence. The state alleges Savoy agreed to say Spader and Gribble spent the night at his house even though the two men told him they killed someone.

"Honestly, I wasn't trying to do anything wrong ... I was just scared. The whole time I was just scared," a television broadcast showed an emotional Savoy telling Milford District Court Judge Martha R. Crocker at his arraignment Wednesday.

"What they did was horrible ... and they shouldn't get away with it. And I shouldn't be let off for just any reason," he continued before breaking down in tears.

"I didn't know what to do.... I just did what I was told," Savoy said.

Savoy is the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the Mont Vernon murder and home invasion, though he is not accused of being at the 4 Trow Road home where Kimberly L. Cates, 42, was killed in her bed and her daughter, Jaimie, 11, was seriously wounded in the predawn attack.

Autumn Savoy, 20, of Hollis is arraigned in Nashua District Court on Thursday. (BOB LAPREE)

Spader and Gribble face first-degree murder, murder conspiracy and attempted murder charges. Amherst residents William Marks and Quinn Glover, both 18, are charged with burglary, robbery and burglary conspiracy.

Savoy remained calm at his arraignment yesterday before Judge Thomas E. Bamberger, though his mother wept from her seat directly behind her son. Defense attorney Raymond Mello of Nashua challenged the state's request for $100,000 cash or surety bail, saying none of Savoy's prior criminal convictions involved violence.

Each court ordered him held on concurrent $100,000 cash or corporate surety bail.

Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Peter Hinckley said the state will seek to consolidate the cases in Milford District Court before Savoy is scheduled to appear there Dec. 1 for a probable cause hearing.

The murder investigation is continuing, he said.

Some who live and work in the Hollis neighborhood where Savoy has lived with his parents, brother and two sisters for at least seven years were not surprised to learn of his alleged involvement in the crime and wondered why it took police so long to charge him.

"I'm upset because he had a record and some judge let him off," said Mark Archambault, owner of nearby Hatch Convenience Store, 85 Runnells Bridge Road.

Savoy was charged with felony possession of a narcotic (Adderall) at Hollis-Brookline High School on April 9, 2008, Nashua District Court records show. In an Aug. 21, 2008, negotiated agreement, Savoy pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge and received a six-month sentence in the Hillsborough County House of Correction. The court ordered the sentence not be imposed for two years, provided Savoy remained on good behavior and participated in any substance abuse counseling programs his counselor recommended, court records show.

Savoy was convicted this year of criminal mischief for scratching onto a car hood a derogatory word referring to a gay person, court records show. Savoy pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and received a suspended/deferred 1 1/2-year sentence. He was also ordered to pay $486 restitution to cover the damage to the car, which was parked at Hollis-Brookline High School Jan. 9.

"Why was the kid out free when he could have been in jail?" Archambault said.

About a month or two before the murder, Archambault said, Savoy began coming into his store with Spader and another young man who always wore combat fatigues and who Archambault later learned was Gribble.

"The one in the fatigues would say he was the muscle guy," he recounted.

The youths bought energy drinks and snacks and, though polite, still made Archambault uneasy.

"They were kind of giddy, just joking like teens. They weren't rude," he said.

The three sometimes arrived in cars, he said. One was a reddish sedan that Archambault said he later learned belonged to Gribble. The other was a black Toyota Camry. Marks' father said state police impounded his son's black Camry on Oct. 5.

Archambault's nephew Philip also has said he spoke with Spader and Savoy outside the convenience store the night before the murder. Spader was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans and "seemed to me like he had a little fire in him," he said. Savoy wore a black tank top and black jeans, he said.

A neighbor said she noticed Savoy's behavior had changed after he befriended Gribble and Spader.

"I think it was like, 'I'm Mr. Cool.' I think he had some insecurities," said Alice Mann, 63, who lives next door to the Savoys. "I think Autumn got in over his head. And you know what, it's too late now."

Mann said she can understand that Savoy may have been afraid of Gribble and Spader, but should have contacted police after the two men were arrested Oct. 6.

Mann said the Savoys are "nice enough people. They don't create any problems in the neighborhood."

Savoy also was charged with possession of marijuana at Hollis-Brookline High School on Nov. 16, 2007, court records show. The charge was dismissed after Savoy completed an intensive court-ordered adolescent substance abuse treatment program in 2008 and performed 42 hours of community service at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Nashua, court records show.

Salvation Army Thrift Store co-manager Marlene Taylor remembers Savoy's mother dropping off Savoy at the store, where he would stock shelves, hang clothes, clean floors and do other chores.

"He came in here and he did whatever he was told. He didn't bad mouth or moan or groan. He just did it," Taylor said.