MADAWASKA, Maine — Police made an arrest late Wednesday in connection with last week’s break-in at the home of Robert Lausier following the accident on March 9 that killed his pregnant wife and sent him to the hospital.
Kevin Dufour, 26, of Madawaska has been charged with burglary and theft of drugs, Madawaska police Chief Carroll Theriault said Thursday afternoon.
Madawaska and state police have been investigating the incident, during which an undisclosed amount of medical marijuana and cash were taken from the Lausier home at some time late March 9 or early the following morning, Theriault said.
Evidence collected at the scene, including fingerprints and DNA, has been sent to the state crime lab for testing, he said.
The investigation focused on Dufour after a neighbor of the Lausiers spotted him coming out of the home last week, claiming he had gone there to offer condolences to the family, Theriault said.
“We did some checking around, and all the evidence pointed at Dufour,” Theriault said.
On Wednesday, Dufour came to the Madawaska Police Department at the request of an officer and, after speaking with law enforcement personnel there, confessed to entering the home without permission with the intent to locate and take prescription painkillers, Theriault said.
Dufour denied taking or going into the part of the house where the medical marijuana had been, taking any cash or breaking down the door to gain entry, Theriault said.
Dufour subsequently was arrested at the police station without incident and released on $3,000 bail.
Theriault said the investigation continues, and he anticipates further arrests will be made.
He also said he has spoken with Robert Lauser this week, who is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
Lausier, 53, was a passenger in the sport utility driven by his wife, Kim Lausier, 38, who was eight months pregnant when her vehicle struck a sedan driven by 33-year-old Bobbi-Jo Johnston of Fort Fairfield on the morning of March 9. Police said Kim Lausier was trying to pass a tractor-trailer on Route 161 near Madawaska Lake in Stockholm at the time of the head-on crash.
In addition to Kim Lausier, Johnston; Johnston’s 2-year-old daughter, Alana A. Nelson; and Johnston’s mother, Laurie Johnston, 52, of Carlingford, New Brunswick, died at the scene.
Robert Lausier was taken to EMMC, where he continues to recover from his injuries.
On Thursday, his sister Lisa Dionne said her brother’s condition is slowly improving. She had no further comment on his condition or Wednesday’s arrest of Dufour.
The official investigation into the fatal accident is near completion, Lt. John Cote of the Maine State Police said in an email to the BDN Wednesday.
Cote said results from blood tests were still pending, but that such tests are standard procedure in fatal crashes and that drugs or alcohol are not believed to have played a factor in the accident.
Cote said officers did interview Robert Lausier before he was taken to EMMC and that he confirmed witness accounts that Kim Lausier was attempting to pass the 18-wheeler when the collision took place.
“The unsafe pass by [Kim] Lausier was the primary cause,” Cote said. “But certainly the limited visibility caused by blowing snow likely contributed to the Lausier vehicle not noticing the Johnston vehicle approaching.”
A snow squall was moving through the area at the time of the accident and the 18-wheeler was likely stirring up snow from the road, Cote said.
The big rig never stopped and efforts to locate the driver to see what light he could shed on the accident have been unsuccessful, Cote said.
“We suspect, due to the blowing snow and that the impact occurred toward the rear of his vehicle, [the driver of the 18-wheeler] may not have been aware of the crash.”
