HOPE, Maine — An investigation into the death of a Camden man killed in June by a large rock that crashed through his windshield awaits the results of a Maine State Police Crime Laboratory analysis of the projectile.
Knox County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Tim Carroll said Thursday that the department will be able to finish its report and forward the findings to the district attorney’s office once analysis of the rock is completed.
James Nash, 73, of Camden was killed on June 9 while driving east on Route 17 when the 6- to 8-inch-diameter rock came through the windshield and struck him in the head. He died instantly. His wife, Marilyn Nash, was treated for minor injuries at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and released the evening of the crash.
The rock ended up in the rear passenger seat of James Nash’s 2013 Honda Civic.
The rock is suspected of having fallen off the trunk of a 1999 Saab driven by a rock collector, according to an affidavit filed in court by Detective Dwight Burtis of the sheriff’s office to obtain a search warrant for the Saab.
The sedan was registered to Kathy Felch of Union, but she had loaned it to her son Myles Felch, according to the police affidavit. A few days after the fatal incident, a witness reported to the Sheriff’s Department that he had helped two young men collect rocks on property near the intersection of Routes 17 and 90 in Rockport on June 9 before the fatal incident.
The witness said he remembers Felch placing one rock on the trunk of the car while the others were placed on a trailer. The rocks were being collected by Felch and the other man to be taken to the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel. The witness said Felch was driving the car.
After receiving this information, the sheriff’s office spoke with Felch at his mother’s home. He was shown a photograph of the rock and said he did not recognize it and that it was not the type of rock he would want for the museum. He also denied placing a rock on the trunk of the car. The sheriff’s office interviewed the witness from Rockport again, who identified the rock as the one Felch put on the back of the trunk, according to the affidavit. Police went back to Felch, who again denied placing the rock on the trunk.
Burtis obtained a search warrant and the vehicle was seized on June 22 and taken to the crime lab in Augusta. An inspection of the car showed new scratch marks on the rear spoiler of the car, the hatchback window and the rear left side of the car, according to the affidavit.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case nor has any civil lawsuit been filed.
Felch’s attorney, Walter McKee, said in July that at some point his client’s side of the story would be told. On Thursday, he said nothing has changed in the status of the matter.
Burtis has been calling the state crime lab every week to check on the status of the analysis of the rock, Carroll said Thursday.
Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said Thursday that it is not unusual in a major death investigation for lab technicians to take a few months to analyze evidence. He said that the lab expects to look at the rock in the coming weeks.