WATERVILLE – An audible sigh of relief swept through the Colby College field house Tuesday as police announced to about 150 students and faculty and the media that they had captured a man they suspect in the brutal abduction and slaying last week of 21-year-old Colby senior Dawn Rossignol.

Edward J. Hackett, 47, convicted of a similar crime in Utah in 1992 and released on parole for that crime in March, is in custody at Kennebec County Jail without bail and is expected to be charged with murder within the next few days, said Maine State Police Lt. Timothy Doyle, the commander of the investigation that began last Wednesday with the discovery of Rossignol’s body.

Since the grisly discovery off the Rice Rips Road just a mile from the college campus, fear has gripped students, faculty and area residents who have taken extra precautions as investigators hunted for Rossignol’s killer.

Hackett was arrested Monday afternoon at his parents’ tidy home on Route 32 in Vassalboro. He arrived in the area in March after serving 11 years in a Utah prison.

In March 1992, Hackett kidnapped a 24-year-old woman from a downtown parking terrace. He robbed the woman, forced her into her car and commanded her to drive him to Ogden, about 40 minutes away. On the way, he had her stop the car and allegedly tried to rape her, but the assault was interrupted by a Salt Lake City police officer who fought with Hackett for several minutes, according to newspaper reports.

Hackett later was convicted of kidnapping and robbery.

Released in March 2003, he was allowed to move to Maine to live with his parents along a rural stretch of road in East Vassalboro about 10 miles from the Colby campus. Officials said it is common for states to allow parolees or prisoners on probation to travel to other states. Supervision of those prisoners is turned over to the Department of Corrections in those states.

During the course of the weeklong investigation into Rossignol’s death, investigators asked the Maine Department of Corrections to provide them with a list of anyone in the area who had been convicted of similar crimes and had recently been released.

Hackett’s name came up on that list.

Doyle would comment no further on what specifically led them to Hackett’s door, nor would he talk about any evidence involved in the case or Rossignol’s cause of death.

Rossignol’s mother, Charleen Rossignol of Medway, said Tuesday she preferred not to comment on Hackett’s arrest.

“At this time we would rather not comment. We want to wait until we have more information,” she said.

Police believe that Rossignol, a dean’s list student studying biology, was abducted as she approached her vehicle shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, from a parking lot about 200 yards from her dormitory.

Her mother reported Rossignol missing when she failed to show up in Bangor for a doctor’s appointment. Rossignol’s car was spotted the next morning on a dirt road leading down to the Rice Rips Hydro Plant about a mile from campus. Her body was found about 300 feet from the car near Messalonskee Stream.

Doyle said the investigation into her death had been proceeding 24 hours a day since.

Law enforcement officers from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department, Waterville and Oakland police departments, the railroad police and the warden service assisted the Maine State Police in the investigation.

The Maine State Police crime lab staff worked around the clock processing evidence on the case and were crucial to the investigation, Doyle said.

Waterville police Officer John Morris called the arrest of the suspect “such a great relief for this community,” but urged everyone not to lose sight of ways to keep themselves safe in the future.

Doyle stressed that Hackett had no connection with Colby College.

The parking lot “could have been any parking lot anywhere,” the state police lieutenant said. “This was a random act of violence. Their paths just happened to cross.”

Doyle said there is no connection between Hackett and the attempted abduction of a University of Maine female student on the Orono campus in August. The woman escaped after a man forced her into his car. Police are still seeking that man.

Officers would continue investigating the crime despite the arrest, he said.

Colby College President William Adams remained somber, saying he was relieved but was still stunned by the loss to the Colby community.

“We are a changed place,” Adams said to the students and faculty. “A great deal has changed at this place.”

Extra security measures initiated after Rossignol’s death would remain in effect for the time being, he said, and all security policies and procedures would be evaluated as officials attempt to find any way they can to make the campus even more secure than it was.

The Attorney General’s Office is expected to file charges of murder within a couple of days, at which point Hackett likely will appear at 7th District Court in Waterville.