Fairfield murder suspect held without bail; notes found at home

SKOWHEGAN – A Fairfield man who allegedly admitted to police that he planned the execution-style shooting of his ex-wife last Friday will remain held without bail on a day-to-day basis until he can obtain an attorney.

In Skowhegan District Court on Wednesday, Judge Douglas Clapp set a probable cause hearing for June 9 for Gregory Warmke, 44, accused of killing Lesley Bullock, 46, also of Fairfield, with a single shotgun blast to the face last Friday.

Bullock was the seventh homicide this year and the sixth to involve domestic violence.

Her body was found in the driveway of the home on Route 139 that the couple had shared when married. Court documents indicate that Warmke planned to kill Bullock because he was upset that she retained the house in the divorce settlement. The couple had been married for two years and divorced for one year.

Details of a search warrant executed this week at Warmke’s apartment at 347 Upper Ridge Road in Fairfield and filed at the court Wednesday revealed that Maine State Police found a series of sealed notes and five guns and ammunition at the apartment.

After his arrest Friday at a Palmyra cemetery, Warmke told state police detectives that a note at his apartment would “explain everything.”

The search warrant indicates that three notes were found in sealed envelopes. Each was individually labeled with “Equal Rights,” “Why,” and “Knowledge is power.” The court paperwork did not indicate the contents of the envelopes.

Also found in a bathroom closet at Warmke’s apartment were a rifle, four handguns and ammunition.

Bullock had three children from a previous marriage. She worked as a child protection caseworker for the state Department of Human Services. She was currently earning college credits by tabulating statistics on domestic violence for the Somerset-Kennebec district attorney’s office.

Several of Bullock’s co-workers attended the hearing but declined to comment on the shooting.

Warmke’s girlfriend, Alice Ridky, also attended the hearing and spoke briefly to Warmke as he was led to the courtroom from Somerset County Jail. Warmke shuffled along the sidewalk in manacles and handcuffs and did not respond when Ridky spoke to him.

It was Ridky that Warmke telephoned at her job at Colby College after he fled the shooting scene last Friday, according to court documents. When he parked his car at a Palmyra cemetery, state police negotiator Sgt. William Harwood talked him into surrendering. Harwood reported that Warmke admitted killing Bullock and said he was sorry. A shotgun was found with Warmke at the cemetery.

Norridgewock lawyer John Alsop was appointed to represent Warmke at Wednesday’s hearing only and explained outside the courtroom that because of Warmke’s divorce a year ago, several local attorneys felt a conflict of interest and could not represent him.

Clapp continued the bail hearing on a day-to-day basis pending Warmke’s obtaining an attorney. Clapp also approved Warmke’s request for a court-appointed lawyer.

When the bail hearing is finally held, Maine Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson is expected to ask that no bail be granted.