The Arsenic Was In The Coffee

(AP)  Residents of this potato farming community pride themselves on the safety of their close-knit town, many boasting that they don't leave their house doors locked at night.

Now many are scared and shocked after a fatal arsenic poisoning at a church function.

Homicide investigators said arsenic-laced coffee served at the church reception following Sunday's service killed a 78-year-old man and made several others sick.

"I just can't believe any of it. We watch TV and things like this happen," said Pam Landeen, whose uncle, Dale Anderson, was in critical condition at a Bangor hospital. "When something actually happens to you, it's hard to believe."

State police continued interviewing members of the congregation in the community of about 650 people, including more than two dozen who had coffee and baked goods at the church that has long symbolized the cultural fabric of a town settled by Swedish immigrants in the 1800s.

Residents had held on to hopes until Wednesday that the poisonings would turn out to be accidental, said Alton Ketch. Told that it is being investigated as a homicide, he said, "That's what we were scared of."

Following the death of Walter Reid Morrill, officials said the investigation "has produced no evidence that ... the arsenic was introduced into the brewed coffee accidentally."

Two other members of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church in New Sweden are still in critical condition; the condition of a third has been upgraded from critical to serious.

The case was declared a homicide Thursday after laboratory tests confirmed that the source of arsenic was in the brewed coffee. Arsenic also was confirmed in samples from the victims, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Public Safety Department.

McCausland said he did not know whether the tan stucco church, which sits on top of a hill near a vacant parsonage, was locked before last weekend's incident. But state police do know who had access to the building.

"This case remains wide open," he said acknowledging that he did not know whether investigators had discovered any disagreements among members of the congregation.

Arsenic poisoning causes skin sores, organ injuries and has been linked to cancers of the skin, lung, liver, bladder and pancreas. It is generally odorless and tasteless.

Chief investigator Lt. Dennis Appleton, said he hopes residents being questioned by police would not dismiss a disagreement they might be aware of as too irrelevant to mention.

"I think my investigators and my interviewers can convince people that even the smallest thing maybe should be brought to our attention and we should evaluate that," Appleton said.

Several people reported feeling sick after last weekend's reception. Morrill, a longtime member of the congregation who lived next to the church and acted as a caretaker and head usher, died early Monday.

"We don't know what the motive is. We don't know who was responsible for doing this, but our investigators' focus now is to find answers to those questions," McCausland said.


By Kevin Wack By Kevin Wack