Abbot man, 22, indicted in 2004 fatal car accident

DOVER-FOXCROFT – An Abbot man was indicted Friday by a Piscataquis County grand jury on two counts of manslaughter in connection with a 2004 motor vehicle accident that killed two of his friends.

Heath St. Louis, 22, is alleged to have been the driver of a vehicle that crashed, killing Drake Martell, 21, of Sangerville and Elias Russell, 22, of Parkman on the North Road in Sebec on Oct. 21, 2004.

Both men died instantly in the crash. If convicted, St. Louis could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on each count.

No arraignment date has been set. Indictments also were handed up Friday on a Pittsfield woman and a Bradford man.

Police who investigated the Sebec crash said the three men had been traveling in a 2004 Mazda MZ6 on the North Road when the vehicle became airborne and struck trees 10 to 15 feet up before it landed in the woods.

St. Louis, who received minor injuries, managed to get out of the demolished vehicle and was discovered by a motorist running down the road yelling for help. He was picked up and taken back to the accident scene where emergency medical service personnel found him.

Explaining the lapse in time from the accident to the indictment, Piscataquis District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said Friday that he and police wanted to make sure they had collected every shred of evidence.

“This is a very serious case, and when people die in a car crash, we need to make sure we get all the available evidence, and there was some DNA evidence in this case that needed to be processed, and that takes a lot of time,” Almy said.

That DNA came from blood spots found inside the vehicle, which were submitted to the Maine State Police crime laboratory for analysis, according to police reports. The DNA would indicate where the men were sitting in the car at the time of the accident.

Also indicted on Friday were Ann M. Hicks, 37, of Pittsfield for trafficking in prison contraband. Hicks was transferred on June 5 from the Somerset County Jail to the Piscataquis County Jail.

When she was being processed, a female deputy found tobacco, drugs and a syringe in a plastic bag in the woman’s vagina.

Eric L. Tatro, 27, of Bradford was indicted for operating a motor vehicle after revocation.