CARIBOU, Maine — A woman whose sister, niece and two nephews were killed in a fire that ripped through their mobile home last week has been indicted by the Aroostook County grand jury on drug charges.
Amy L. Bouchard, 32, of Caribou was indicted last Friday on charges of unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs, endangering the welfare of a child and stealing drugs. The charges all stem from the same incident on Oct. 25, 2013, Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan said Tuesday.
Police were called to a school in Caribou after officials there reported they believed prescription medication sent to the school by Bouchard for one of her children had been tampered with, the chief said.
Prosecutors allege that Bouchard exchanged the medication for attention deficit disorder that had been in the capsules for sugar, Gahagan said.
Last week, a fire at the West Gate Villa Mobile Home park claimed the lives of Bouchard’s sister Norma Skidgel and her children, 3-year-old Trenton Delisle and 2-year-old twins Mason and Madison Delisle, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland.
The fire was started by Trenton Delisle, who ignited items in the living room of the family’s mobile home, according to investigators with the state fire marshal’s office. The youngster also had set fire to a Bible inside the kitchen stove earlier that morning, investigators said.
Bouchard and her two sons also lived in the mobile home. One of her sons had spent the night elsewhere, and a short time before the fatal fire was set, Bouchard had walked her other boy to the school bus stop at the end of the road, according to investigators. The trailer was on fire when she returned.
Officials said Bouchard tried to get back in the residence and was taken from the scene to Cary Medical Center in Caribou, where she was treated for smoke inhalation before being released.
Investigators say there were no working smoke detectors inside the trailer — only one was found and the battery had been removed. The rear door to the mobile home also had been blocked by a large piece of Styrofoam, likely for insulation.
The four victims were found in the back bedroom of the mobile home.