Auburn man held in jail on murder charge

AUBURN – An Auburn man suspected in the murder of his neighbor is to be held without bail, a judge ordered Tuesday.

Robert Alley, 58, is accused of beating 54-year-old Raymond Thibodeau to death on Sept. 30.

Thibodeau died of blunt-impact trauma, according to testimony in Androscoggin County Superior Court. An official from the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office said Thibodeau had 14 fractured ribs, suffered numerous blows to his head, chest, abdomen and groin and was stomped with enough force to leave a shoe impression on his midsection.

Patterns on Thibodeau’s abdomen were consistent with the soles of Alley’s shoes, according to Michael Ferenc, deputy chief of the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police said Alley called police to report finding Thibodeau dead after the two men spent a night drinking beer and playing chess. The men lived in the same apartment building.

Possible motives were only hinted at during the probable cause hearing.

One investigator suggested Alley may have killed Thibodeau in an alcoholic haze.

“From what I understand, Mr. Alley said he didn’t know what happened, that he had blacked out,” Maine State Police Detective Erik Baker said.

Another investigator, State Police Detective Rick Fowler, suggested that a woman’s death may be connected to Thibodeau’s murder.

In July 2000, Christina Ann Fitzherbert, 31, was found dead in Alley’s apartment. State police were called in to investigate the unexplained death and Fitzherbert was ultimately determined to have died from pneumonia, according to court testimony.

But witnesses said Alley may have had more information about Fitzherbert’s death.

“There were threats made that he would kill anyone who gave information to police,” Fowler said.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson argued Alley should be held without bail until trial. Benson described Alley as a flight risk prone to drunken violence based on his admission that he blacked out the morning Thibodeau was killed.

Superior Court Justice S. Kirk Studstrup ordered Alley held at the Androscoggin County Jail without bail. No trial date was set.