November 14, 2024
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Suspects in OOB slaying arrested in South Dakota

PORTLAND – Police in South Dakota on Wednesday arrested a couple wanted in connection with the murder of a Canadian tourist in Old Orchard Beach, authorities said.

Benjamin Humphrey, 29, and Aimee Pelletier, 23, both of Presque Isle, were arrested without incident at a shopping mall in Rapid City, S.D., Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said.

Humphrey became the subject of a nationwide manhunt over the weekend when police charged him with last month’s fatal beating of 47-year-old Derek Rogers of Russell, Ontario.

Police said they believe Pelletier, Humphrey’s girlfriend, tried to manipulate evidence at the crime scene. She has been charged with felony hindering apprehension.

Humphrey and Pelletier were expected to be charged as fugitives from justice and appear in court Thursday or Friday, McCausland said.

The Pennington County Sheriff’s Department sent its deputies to the mall after Maine State Police received a tip that the pair were in South Dakota, McCausland said.

Humphrey was born in South Dakota and has fled there on a previous occasion after running into trouble with Presque Isle police, McCausland said. Humphrey may have relatives at an Indian reservation not far from Rapid City, he said.

Humphrey had a long criminal record in Presque Isle that includes burglary, theft, disorderly conduct and drunken driving.

Humphrey and Pelletier had been living in Brunswick the month before the killing, McCausland said.

Police believe Rogers was attacked at random around 2 a.m. on July 31 as he walked in the Ocean Park section of Old Orchard Beach. Rogers died of a major blow to the head, police said.

His body was later discovered by a fisherman about a quarter-mile to a half-mile from the cottage he rented.

Rogers, a trombone player for the Canadian Central Command Band, had vacationed in the resort town for years.


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