HOULTON, Maine — Autopsy results are still pending on the body of a 61-year-old Houlton man who was found dead in his mobile home on Sunday evening, and investigators continued to comb through the victim’s truck for evidence on Tuesday evening at the state police crime lab in Augusta.
The body of Keith Suitter remained at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta, according to Maine State Police Lt. Troy Gardner.
Suitter lived alone in a mobile home on 412 Hillview Ave., where he was found dead Sunday night by a friend who had gone to check on him after Suitter’s pickup truck was discovered stuck in a snowbank about a half mile from Suitter’s home late Sunday night, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
Gardner said detectives remained at the home Tuesday, gathering evidence from inside the home.
Suitter’s mobile home is located on a dirt road in a heavily wooded and isolated area of Houlton. Technically the road is Hillview Avenue, but many in the community refer to it as the Hollywood Road. The closest neighbor to Suitter is about a half mile away, with a sign on the property that reads “no trespassing.”
Suitter grew up in Houlton and has a number of family members and friends in the community.
One Hollywood Road resident, who asked not to be named due to the ongoing investigation, said Tuesday that he had not seen or heard anything out of the ordinary on Sunday evening.
“He went to Houlton High School with me, but I really did not know him there,” the neighbor said. “He talked to me about his daughters, and he seemed to be the type of guy that was always on the go. He seemed like he would do a lot for people. I saw him shoveling snow for neighbors or helping them if their basement flooded or if their car wouldn’t start.”
The Houlton resident also said he believed that Suitter had served in the military and was a grandfather.
Also on Tuesday, Houlton Police Chief Joe McKenna confirmed that Suitter had been the victim of a home invasion several years ago.
The chief could not provide details about the case, as the lieutenant involved with the incident was not working Tuesday and the case file was not readily available.
But according to Bangor Daily News archives, Suitter was assaulted when three people broke into his home in June 2007. During a scuffle with the intruders, he was hit on the head with a crowbar before the three made off with an undisclosed amount of checks and cash.
Suitter was not seriously injured, according to the BDN at the time.
Suitter also has a criminal history, according to the Maine State Bureau of Identification. Gardner said that investigators would routinely consider Suitter’s criminal past and how it might factor into the death investigation.
The criminal record dates back to 1977 when Suitter was fined $100 on a charge of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer out of Houlton.
In 1991, he was charged with felony unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs and sentenced to 30 days in prison, plus a $5,000 fine and 2 years of probation. He also was found guilty of assault and criminal restraint in 1991 and sentenced to 10 days in jail on each misdemeanor charge.
In 1994, he was found guilty of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer and fined $150 plus ordered to pay $50 restitution in Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou.
In 2001, Suitter was charged by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency with aggravated cultivation of marijuana and sentenced to one year in prison. He also spent 45 days in prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2002.
McCausland said that he did not expect further information on the case to be released until Wednesday.
Joseph Cyr from the Houlton Pioneer Times contributed to this report.