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A Washington County grand jury has indicted a 39-year-old Eastport man for manslaughter in the September 10 death of Maurice Allen Harris of Eastport, finding there is sufficient evidence to charge Hazen MuDugald with "recklessly or with criminal negligence" causing Harris' death. On November 5, the grand jury also indicted McDugald on a charge of aggravated assault against Harris and violation of conditions of release. He had previously been arrested and charged only with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the death and one count of violating bail.
According to Maine State Police Detective Micah Perkins’ affidavit, which was released on November 9 from Calais District Court, Officer David Claroni of the Eastport Police Department was working patrol the night of September 10 when he was dispatched to 3 Clark Street for a well-being check after an Eastport Residential Care Facility employee called the Washington County Regional Communication Center to report that "the guy next door is yelling and screaming."
Claroni was conducting a registration check of the car parked in Harris' driveway when he observed Hazen McDugald walk towards him. He had arrested McDugald twice in the last year, most recently on July 7 for aggravated assault, and knew McDugald was on bail and had search and testing conditions. The affidavit states, "McDugald asked Officer Claroni why he was at the residence, to which Officer Claroni replied he had received a complaint of a male subject yelling for help. McDugald stated his 'uncle' was hard of hearing and that they had been watching the movie Halloween." When Claroni asked McDugald about the noises heard by the care facility staff, McDugald stated that Harris "was not acting right." Claroni asked McDugald to stay on the scene until he could make contact with Harris, but McDugald ignored the command and fled.
After his attempts to make contact with Harris were unsuccessful, Claroni requested assistance from Pleasant Point Police Officer Shawn Hastings. When Claroni forced entry into the house, he found Harris' body on the floor of the porch with no signs of life and blood on his face. EMS personnel responding to the scene confirmed Harris was dead, and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit was called for assistance.
Detective Sgt. Darrin Crane, Detective Greg Mitchell and Detective Jonah O'Roak responded to assist. Mitchell accompanied Claroni, Officer Mark Emery, Officer Hastings and Chief Frances LaCoute to the Water Street home of Tyra Baker where McDugald had been staying. The suspect was located in an upstairs bedroom where Claroni observed "a pile of dark wet clothes on the bedroom floor that matched the description of clothing McDugald had been wearing earlier when he fled" from the scene and which appeared to have blood on them.
McDugald was told that a bail check was being conducted, and when he got up, Claroni "observed that the bed McDugald had been sitting in appeared to have blood on it." The suspect "also had cuts on his hand and what appeared to be bloody bandages on his hands."
Detective O'Roak's observations at the crime scene included that the victim's "right hand was clenched to a black trash bag containing bottles and cans and his left hand was placed at his left side." Red brown stains were on Harris' shirt and around his mouth, both sides of his neck and left ear and a red/brown pooling stain was on the ground to the left of his head. O'Roak also observed red/brown swipe stains on the doorway and on the corner of the cook stove. A "fixed blade knife with a white plastic handle [was] stuck into the plywood wall at an upward angle" and "the handle of the knife also had red/brown stains on it. Subsequent analysis and comparison of blood stains found at the scene and DNA obtained from McDugald resulted in a match, proving McDugald's presence at the scene."
When Dr. Clair Bryce performed an autopsy on Harris' body on September 11, she found that his injuries were "more than what would be normally found related to a simple fall involved in a natural death." If the injuries are the result of an interaction with another person, the death is considered a homicide, and the proximity of the interaction to the death would make it a contributory factor. The affidavit states "that the final determination is pending more investigative details." The doctor also told Detective Perkins "that she found abrasions and cuts about the face and jaw area resulting from blunt force" as well as "minor injuries around the throat area. She noted an enlarged heart and other evidence of heart disease."
McDugald had told Detective Mitchell that he had cut his hands and face when he fell off a bank about 15' onto some rocks earlier that night and had struck the side of his head on the rocks. He denied being at the Harris residence. "McDugald's flight from the scene, without either asking for medical assistance for Harris, or claiming any justification is indicative of consciousness of guilt," states the affidavit.
In an interview with Mitchell, an Eastport Residential Care Facility employee stated she and several of her fellow staff members were near the building entrance on Clark Street at 10 p.m. on September 10. She stated "that she knew an elderly man lived at the residence located at 3 Clark Street and that she heard some very strange and loud noises coming from the residence" and that "she only saw one light on inside" and that "the noises sounded like heavy items moving and being banged around." She then "heard a very loud and long growl or moan" which "was definitely made by a person" and that after the moan "everything was silent."
After McDugald was released from the Washington County Jail on September 16, Detective Perkins saw him sitting on a bench beside the Eastport Fire Department. "McDugald declined to speak with me," reported Perkins. When McDugald was placed under arrest for aggravated assault and then searched, Trooper Chad Lindsey, who was assisting, found "a fixed blade serrated knife, appearing to be a steak knife, modified by wrapping the handle in black electrical tape" in McDugald's "right front pocket."
Detective Perkins summed up his report by emphasizing, "Based on [these] facts, I have probable cause to believe that Hazen McDugald assaulted Maurice Harris, a 75-year-old man, in his residence late at night, with extreme indifference to human life, given the number, location, or nature of the injuries, the manner or method inflicted, the observable physical condition of the victim" and "further, that he is in violation of the conditions of his earlier release on bail for aggravated assault by possessing a knife, described in colloquial terms as a 'shank' modified and designed for use as a weapon, or, in the alternative caused bodily injury with the use of a dangerous weapon, a knife, and further, that he violated his existent bail conditions by possessing a dangerous weapon when arrested on September 17."
McDugald is still being held at the Washington County Jail with bail set at $25,000 cash or $250,000 double surety. |
