Kidnapping, assault linked to drug deal

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CONWAY, N.H. – Police believe a drug deal gone bad in Massachusetts led to a kidnapping and assault in Maine last week. Two New Hampshire men were being held Friday, and a third man was recovering from injuries. Richard Smith, 20, of…
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CONWAY, N.H. – Police believe a drug deal gone bad in Massachusetts led to a kidnapping and assault in Maine last week.

Two New Hampshire men were being held Friday, and a third man was recovering from injuries.

Richard Smith, 20, of North Conway and Luke Clough, 23, of Madison were being held on $200,000 bail on fugitive charges in New Hampshire. They were arrested Tuesday in Madison.

In Maine, they face kidnapping, robbery and assault charges. Clough also is accused of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.

Police said the two men and the victim, Phillip Swanson, went to Malden, Mass., last week to buy marijuana, but while there, they were robbed at gunpoint. Investigators said Clough and Smith believed Swanson set them up.

Two days later, Clough’s girlfriend picked up Swanson in Malden and eventually brought him to Fryeburg, Maine, where police say Clough and Smith pulled him from the vehicle, beat him with baseball bats, took his clothes and left him in a snowbank.

Police said more people may be charged.


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