A Weare man who allegedly set another resident’s home on fire in April is facing arson, burglary and criminal threatening charges in Superior Court.

A Goffstown District Court judge decided on April 24 that there was probable cause to move forward with the case against Peter Walsh, 27, of 126 Abijah Road, whom Weare police said entered the Mt. William Pond home of Vernon Hamel, 46, and started a fire in addition to threatening Hamel’s life.

Walsh is scheduled to appear in Hillsborough Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 1, for arraignment. In Weare police Detective Lou Chatel’s affidavit, Walsh allegedly broke windows in Hamel’s home with two-by-fours at around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12.

Hamel got up to investigate the noise, he told police in interviews, and saw Walsh outside.

Walsh then allegedly climbed through one of the windows and entered the house.

“Having no way to exit, Mr. Hamel grabbed a pieced of wood and went toward the front room and now saw Peter Walsh standing inside his house next to a wall that was on fire. Mr. Hamel stated that Walsh said he was ‘going to burn him out,’” Chatel wrote in the affidavit.

At that point, Hamel said he picked up a piece of wood and struck Walsh, simultaneously pushing him toward the front door.

When Walsh was outside, Hamel told police, he allegedly pointed a gun at Hamel through the window and threatened to shoot him. When police arrived at Walsh’s Abijah Road home later in the day to question him, they also searched the premises and found a .357 handgun in his truck.

The fire fully involved the home, and Walsh allegedly drove off in a green car. Hamel fled the home and went to his brother’s home next door, police said.

A K-9 unit went through the house to detect accelerants, but nothing of that nature was found. After examining electrical wires and outlets, the wood stove, heater and other possible sources, fire investigators determined there was no evidence of accidental causes for the fire’s eruption.

The fire started in the front part of the home by the kitchen, according to the affidavit.

While there was little evidence found at the scene, investigators did find clean broken glass outside below a window outside the home.

State fire investigator Keith Rodenhiser testified at the hearing that accidental causes, which included a nearby wood stove, electrical cords and outlets were ruled out after finding no deficiencies.

“The glass is significant because it proves the window was broken out prior to the ignition of the fire rather than as a result of the fire,” the affidavit said.

Investigators have been looking into past interactions between Walsh and Hamel, and there is some information to indicate there may have been a sexual assault at some point, authorities said.

“Walsh may have been a victim of an alleged sexual assault in the past,” said Rodenhiser on the stand, adding the claim is under investigation.

Chatel was also called as a witness, and said on the stand that Hamel has no convictions on his record, but that the police had dealt with him previously regarding allegations against him of aggravated felonious sexual assault, lewdness and animal cruelty.

When investigators questioned Hamel’s family members, who live next door, his sister-inlaw mentioned that there had been an altercation between Walsh and Hamel this past December in which Hamel was beaten.

No police reports of that incident were made, according to Chatel, but investigators are aware of a history that the sister- in-law declined to elaborate on with police, according to the affidavit.