The man accused of strangling a Presque Isle man and then fleeing to Florida is scheduled to be in a Florida court Tuesday for an extradition hearing, according to a public information officer for the Sixth Circuit Court of Florida.
Robert Craig, 80, of Clearwater, Florida, allegedly killed Leo Corriveau, 86, in Presque Isle on July 21, two days before Corriveau was found dead face down in his backyard by relatives, according to documents filed in Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou.
Craig was arrested Thursday by Maine State Police detectives and charged with murder, according to a previously published report. Craig reportedly had known the victim for four years as a neighbor in the Japanese Garden Home Park in the Tampa area, where Corriveau spent his winters.
Craig made his first court appearance Friday afternoon before Judge John Carballo at the Pinellas County Justice Center in Clearwater. The judge denied bail for Craig and set a hearing to discuss whether Craig will waive extradition and return to Maine this month, Public Information Officer Steve Thompson said Monday.
If Craig decides to fight extradition, it could take several months for him to be returned to Maine to face the murder charge.
An autopsy by the Maine medical examiner’s office determined that Corriveau was strangled, suffered broken ribs and cuts on his arm and head and likely died at least 40 hours before he was found.
Corriveau, a longtime forestlands businessman and father of nine grown children, returned to Maine from Florida on July 12 with Craig, who worked in lawn maintenance in Florida most of his life, according to the affidavit.
Corriveau’s car, a red Buick Enclave sport utility vehicle, was missing from his home when his body was discovered, but police later tracked it to Hermon using the vehicle’s OnStar system. Craig caught a bus back to Florida that left Dysart’s in Hermon around 11:30 a.m. July 23, the same day that Corriveau’s body was found.
Craig told detectives when interviewed in Florida that he drove Corriveau’s vehicle to Hermon and rode a Greyhound bus back to Florida with approximately $400 Corriveau had given him.
A motive for the slaying was not revealed in court documents.
BDN writer Anthony Brino contributed to this report.