Documents unsealed in Bates slaying Lewiston paper granted Freedom of Access rights

LEWISTON – A 20-year-old Lewiston man has told police that he saw a murder suspect stab a Bates College student, according to court documents that have been made public.

The documents say that Chad Aube told detectives that he watched Brandon Thongsavanh, 19, grab Morgan McDuffee, 22, in a headlock and move his hand toward his chest.

Aube told detectives that he initially thought Thongsavanh was punching McDuffee, until he heard a girl yell, “He’s killing him!”

Aube told police that he met up with Thongsavanh at a friend’s house later in the night, and Thongsavanh was bragging about stabbing someone.

Aube’s statements are summarized in court documents released Friday.

The documents, including an eight-page police affidavit, were impounded by the court in early March after police charged Thongsavanh with McDuffee’s murder.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston filed a motion last week requesting the documents, arguing that keeping them from the public was in violation of the Maine Freedom of Access Act.

Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman signed an order late Friday granting the newspaper’s request.

Thongsavanh has been charged with stabbing McDuffee to death in the early morning of March 3 during a fight between Bates students and a group of local men. Thongsavanh has pleaded innocent to the charge and is being held without bail at Androscoggin County jail.

According to the affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Christopher Harriman, police obtained warrants to search Thongsavanh’s apartment and cars belonging to three other people.

The affidavit says police interviewed Aube, Thongsavanh, Thongsavanh’s girlfriend and other local men and women who either were involved in the fight that led to McDuffee’s death or who saw Thongsavanh at some point that night.

Several people first told police one thing, then changed their story when interviewed a second time, the affidavit says.

Aube initially told police that he had only “heard through the grapevine” that Thongsavanh stabbed McDuffee. But he admitted hours later that he had not told the truth, the affidavit says.

Aube is the only person mentioned in the police report who claims to have seen Thongsavanh stab McDuffee. But others told police that they had been told that Thongsavanh did it.