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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A New York man was charged Tuesday in the killings of an Augusta couple who were found shot to death early on Christmas Day on a dirt road just outside the city.
The killings of Eric Williams and Bonnie Royer, who were shot inside an SUV in Manchester, were drug related, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
David Marble Jr., of Rochester, New York, was arrested when police stopped a car in which he was a passenger in Augusta, McCausland said.
Marble, who'd been living in an apartment in Augusta, was booked into the Kennebec County Jail on two counts of murder and was expected to appear in court Wednesday or Thursday. He couldn't be reached for comment by telephone, and it was unclear if had a lawyer.
One of the victims called police at around 3:30 a.m. Friday from the isolated dirt road, which was near the couple's home. Officers who responded found them dead.
The Royer family issued a statement to WCSH-TV before the arrest, saying family members "are beside ourselves during this difficult time."
"We appreciate the outpouring of support and well wishes," the family said. "We are doing the best we can to get through this senseless tragedy."
A funeral for Williams is scheduled for Saturday, a day after a vigil for the couple outside their home. Funeral arrangements for Royer are pending.
Police initially asked for the public's help in determining the whereabouts of the couple on Christmas Eve. Hours later, their bodies were found.
Royer's father, Paul Mansir Jr., of Whitefield, said he last spoke to his daughter on Dec. 21.
"The last thing I said to her was, 'I love you,'" he told the Kennebec Journal.
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