First Arsenic, Now A Deadly Shooting
Police in the small potato farming community of New Sweden, Maine found themselves in the spotlight this week as they struggled to solve a mysterious "what-dunnit" case in which several churchgoers suddenly fell ill following Sunday services, and caretaker Walter Reid Morrill, 78, died on Monday.
Evidence proved the cause was arsenic in the church coffee, and on Friday authorities ruled Morrill's death a homicide, though the culprit and motive remain unknown.
When Daniel Bondeson, 53, a man affiliated with the church, was found shot in his home in the neighboring town of Woodland also on Friday, the town and police, still reeling from the arsenic poisonings, found themselves with an unsettling "who-dunnit" to solve too.
Bondeson died at 6:30 p.m. after being taken into surgery at Cary Medical Center in Caribou, the hospital reported. It was not known how the shooting occurred.
Investigators were obtaining a warrant and planned to begin a search of his farmhouse Saturday. Police said they were looking into possible links between the shooting and the poisonings.
Meanwhile, health officials said consequences of the church poisonings could have been far worse without an arsenic antidote stockpiled after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Fifteen people in addition to Morrill fell ill after drinking arsenic-laced coffee following Sunday's service at Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church. Two remained in critical condition at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
Health officials said quick access to the antidote purchased with federal bioterrorism grants may have saved lives. The antidote was in Portland and was quickly shipped to northern Maine after the church members fell ill.
"Having a stockpile of chemical antidotes may very well have been life-saving," said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health.
Investigators fanned out across this tiny farming town Friday, requesting fingerprint and DNA samples from all 50 church members. They also asked for help from the FBI in profiling the killer.
State Police Lt. Dennis Appleton said detectives don't know how or when the coffee arrived at the church, but the percolator was last used about two weeks ago. The person who brewed the coffee was among those stricken.
Appleton said investigators' initial thoughts are that the killer came from within New Sweden community, population 621.
TV satellite trucks were parked outside the church and a sign outside the town office building said the planning board meeting had been canceled due to "events in the community."
"It's almost like it's a dream. It's something that's happening in New Sweden but you can't believe it," said Steve Boody, who was filling in as the elementary school bus driver for the regular driver, who was in the hospital from arsenic poisoning. "It's like you hope to wake up and see that it's not happening."
Sara Anderson, co-owner of the Northstar Variety store, said it is unsettling to think somebody in the community could be responsible. "In the back of your mind, you keep hoping it's not somebody from here," she said.
About two dozen people attended a prayer service for victims, family members and New Sweden residents in nearby Caribou. Lutheran ministers said there would be another gathering Saturday and they invited people to come to Gustaf Adolph on Sunday to "reclaim" the site.