CANDIA — A Manchester man charged with the 2001 killing of George Jodoin was among several suspects investigated at the time, state prosecutors said on Thursday.

“It's fair to say that there were a number of people who were looked at back at the time of the crimes,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin said.

“Those individuals were pretty thoroughly investigated, but unfortunately not enough evidence rose to the surface where there was enough to make an arrest or prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

That all changed late Wednesday when Arthur Collins, 43, of 113 Conant St. was charged with the execution-style killing of Jodoin, a Manchester pawn shop owner. Collins is charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

The murder happened on Dec. 26, 2001 while Jodoin was in bed at his Auburn farmhouse, authorities say.

His body was found the next day by a business partner. Jodoin's neck and head were riddled with bullets from a handgun, police said.

The arrest has brought relief to Jodoin's family. For those close to Collins, the reaction is shock.

Leah Stockton, a family friend of Collins, said she can't believe him capable of killing.

“All he did was help people out,” she said, while hugging Collins' mother who was crying outside the courtroom. “The only reason why he was there, I believe, is because he was helping him out and that's it.”

Prosecutors were circumspect Thursday at how much of the initial investigation focused on Collins.

“He's one of the people who was around the investigation at the time of the crime,” Strelzin said.

In 2001, Collins was living in Candia, and already in trouble with the law five months prior to Jodoin's killing, according to court documents.

Collins, then 32, and an 18-year-old man had stolen a 1992 Jeep Comanche from a man in Candia on June 1, 2001, police and court records show.

Collins told Candia police the vehicle was stolen, but then had the vehicle driven to Chester by the 18-year-old.

Collins was sentenced to 8 months in jail on theft charges in December 2002 — roughly a year after the murder — but continued to get in trouble for months by violating probation, testing positive for cocaine and failing to pay about $8,000 in restitution, according to reports filed by probation officials.

He was ordered to state prison in August 2005 to serve out a previously suspended one- to three-year sentence related to the theft case because of the violations.

By June 2008, he was petitioning a judge to lessen his restitution payments, claiming that he was handicapped from a car accident.

Collins, then an inmate at Laconia State Prison, wrote he had, “limited ability to function at a normal level in an employment that requires any type of labor, heaving (sic) lifting, etc.”

Collins said he was living on Social Security because of his injuries.

A judge had denied the request. A year ago, probation officials requested an arrest warrant for Collins for failure to pay restitution, but ultimately withdrew it days later without explanation, records show.

Collins worked as a handyman for Jodoin and the two were friends, but prosecutors refused to divulge what they believe led to the murder.

“It's something we will introduce at trial,” Strelzin said “That will come out in the future.”

During Collins' arraignment, Strelzin told defense lawyer Greg Albert that he would have to petition a judge to unseal the arrest warrant, which details evidence that led to the arrest.

Collins was ordered held without bail on the murder charges by Judge David LeFrancois.

The probable cause hearing was set for June 4 at 10 a.m.

Auburn police and the New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit reopened the Jodoin investigation in September 2011.

Auburn police Officer Bill Barry, who retired after 26 years with Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department, and cold case Detective Robert Freitas — retired from the Manchester police department — led the new probe.

“The majority of the work really solidified in February and March of this year with April being a real big month when significant progress has made,” Strelzin said.

The victim's brother Robert Jodoin of Hooksett, who pushed investigators for years to solve the case, credited the state Attorney General's office and state police with making an arrest. Last year, his family offered $50,000 for information about the murder.

“The Jodoin family is very relieved that it's finally over,” he said.