AUGUSTA, Maine — A former Augusta man was arrested in Seattle on Monday night in connection with a 1976 homicide in Maine’s state capital, and DNA was used to connect him to the scene, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday.
“It was DNA off some gum he was chewing,” he said.
Gary Raub, 63, who was known as Gary Wilson at the time of the homicide, is charged with the stabbing death of Blanche Kimball, 70, whose body was found inside her State Street home on June 12, 1976, McCausland said in a news release.
“We had talked to him early on in this case,” McCausland said. “Evidence was preserved over the last three-plus decades.
“Each cold case in Maine, which are classified as unsolved homicides, has an assigned state police detective and reviewed periodically,” McCausland said.
Raub would have been 27 at the time of Kimball’s death. Raub and the victim had known each other, and at one time Raub lived at Kimball’s home, McCausland said.
The house, near the Hallowell city line, since has been demolished.
Kimball died from multiple stab wounds, according to McCausland. Augusta police found her body after neighbors reported she had not been seen for several days.
Kimball’s death had been under investigation for the last 36 years. DNA work by the Maine State Police led them to Raub, McCausland said.
“That technology was instrumental in this case, the [Rita] St. Peter case and others,” the state police spokesman said.
St. Peter’s bloody, beaten body was found off Campground Road in Anson on July 5, 1980.
Jay S. Mercier, 56, was convicted of murdering St. Peter last month in Somerset County Superior Court after 32 years, thanks in part to DNA collected from a cigarette butt that Mercier left on the ground during an interview with Detective Bryant Jacques in January 2010. DNA taken from the cigarette was matched to DNA taken from St. Peter’s body.
“The older cases, we’re constantly reviewing them and there will be more success stories in the future,” McCausland said.
Two Maine State Police detectives and two Augusta police detectives flew to Seattle on Monday and took Raub into custody, with assistance from Seattle police, according to the release.
Before Maine authorities headed to the Pacific Northwest, Raub was identified as a person of interest in the case, Maine State Police Lt. Chris Coleman said later Tuesday.
Police figured out where he was living and subsequently reached out to Seattle police, according to Coleman.
Raub’s initial court appearance likely will take place later Tuesday or Wednesday in Washington state, according to the release. Raub is being held as a fugitive from justice in that state, and the initial court appearance will kick off extradition proceedings to return Raub to Maine.
“At some point, he’ll be back in Maine,” Coleman said.
According to King County court records, Raub was arrested on assault charges in Seattle in October 2011. The jail records state he was released the next day.
BDN writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.
Wow 1976 only took 30+ years…nothing like due process.
Due process not relevant to the issue of how long it took police to catch him. Try again.
I’m sure being entitled to a speedy trial is also not relevant either. Silly Constitution.
“Speedy trial” is only a concern once someone has been charged; then the clock starts ticking. There’s no statute of limitations on murder.
From the sad looks of that mug shot, they’d better have a speedy trial. It doesn’t look like he has all that long. . .
You don’t get to claim “Speedy Trial!” if you created the delay by being a fugitive from justice or absconding after committing a crime.
No, it isn’t. I think you need to look up the difference between the words “trial” and “investigation” and get back to us.
There are older unsolved murders in Maine…
Even if it takes decades to finally find a murderer, I am glad the police don’t give up. It’s good to see someone (who most likely was convinced they had gotten away with murder) find out otherwise. Better late than never.
I agree and hoping that this man has not murdered anyone else. I would imagine if you felt like you escaped the long arm of the law once you may have killed again.I hope they investigate this guys life the last 30 years and I certainly salute the good one guys in blue.
why dont they solve the case in east millinocket
The killer has not slipped up yet.
It probably someone who is on a list not to be released until death.
Even though it took a very long time to catch a killer, he was caught. You can run but you can’t hide forever. “What you do in the dark will be revealed in the light.”
Yep, and what you do in the light everyone will just ignore.
Funny world.
Glad they got him ! Not trying to be a negative nanny BUT just wondering why they had to send FOUR
DETECTIVES to retrieve him. Sounds a little excessive and expensive to me. Four flights, four hotel rooms four mouths to feed and four bar tabs.
Yes, like that is the issue here. Nice job pointing out all the government waste in picking up a killer. Unlikely that the per diem pays the bar tab, probably only needed two hotel rooms. It is unbelievable what people here pick apart. I bet her still living relatives appreciate that he has been picked up and….Their concern for your opinion? Not so much.
Travel regulations (for government agencies) rarely require cohabitation in a hotel room – so four would have been required.
Nonetheless, it’s well worth it.
Four are sent so they can sleep, eat, and use the restroom without leaving him unguarded.
Thanks Mr. Raub for leaving your DNA. Great job, too, to the Maine State Police for bloodhounding this case. Noe let’s aim for agressive prosecution and conviction without the usual defense antics. We are now at exactly 25 years since Alice Hawkes was murdered in Westbrook, so let’s hope that her case can now be solved and successfully prosecuted as well.
Hopefully has not left too much dna in his lifetime!
The years have not been kind to that whack job……..
Maybe he started to mold up a bit being in rainy Seattle.
Old wino looks like he’s about at the end of his days anyhow, giving him free room and board for a few years would be doing him a favor.
Good job by MSP and Augusta PD. Never give up the fight, Brothers.
Is that a purple beard???
parliament funkadelic
Thanks for not giving up. Better late than never.
High marks to the Seattle P.D. detective who engineered the ruse which produced the vital DNA sample. This BDN story doesn’t say enough about the close interagency cooperation which makes so much good police work possible. The Seattle press does cover this aspect of the story.
He’ll have a place that’s warm and dry to call home now.
You can run but you can’t hide, Mr. Raub. What goes around comes around.
they can solve this one and another one while back 30 years old but can t come up with joyce m clains case