SHERMAN, Maine — Two Massachusetts men will be returned to Maine to face murder charges in connection with the death of an Oakfield man whose body was found in a vehicle on PD Road in Sherman earlier this month, a state police spokesman said Tuesday.
Marcus Asante, 20, of Fitchburg and Darin Goulding, 27, whose hometown was not released, were in Massachusetts police custody on Tuesday, the same day their alleged victim, 31-year-old Douglas Morin, was to celebrate his 32nd birthday.
Asante was taken into custody on an unrelated charge in Fitchburg on Friday. Goulding was arrested Tuesday in Leominster, said Steve McCausland, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman. Morin was born in Leominster, which is about 7 miles southeast of Fitchburg, according to Morin’s obituary.
Morin’s body was found at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, in a vehicle on PD Road, which is located off Cold Brook Road. Morin’s father, Douglas Sr., said Tuesday he was “happy they [state police investigators] are making headway.
“I don’t know if there are any more [murder suspects] or not, but they [state police] got two,” Morin said. “They haven’t told me anything. To be honest they are keeping a real tight lid on it. It’s what they have to do to seal the deal.”
The cause of death is not being released, but the medical examiner’s office determined the death to be a homicide. Detectives have been working on the case since the body was discovered, McCausland has said.
Family members interviewed at their River Road home on Oct. 17 said they didn’t know who would want to hurt Morin, or why. Douglas Morin Sr. said he last saw his son at about 7:30 a.m. on the day of his death as the latter was headed out the door.
Asante and Goulding have no criminal records in Maine, according to a state database. Asante was arrested on Friday in Fitchburg after police served a search warrant in connection with the homicide investigation, according to an account published in the Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg.
Asante and Sarah Freda, 21, of Fitchburg, were charged with two counts of possession of a firearm without a firearms identification card and improper storage of a firearm. While being booked, Asante allegedly was found with several rounds of ammunition in his pants and was charged with possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card, according to the news report.
The search of the bedroom in a home on Madison Street in Fitchburg revealed two pistols in a backpack. Asante and Freda both denied knowledge of the guns, according to the news report. The report said the ammunition “appears consistent with the caliber of one of the handguns” found in the bedroom.
Asante’s bail was set at $500,000 cash. Previous court records show Asante was arraigned Aug. 22 in Fitchburg District Court on drug charges and a felony armed breaking-and-entering charge, according to the newspaper.
Morin said he had no idea what connection, if any, there is between the suspects and his son.
The younger Morin was arrested in early February 2015 for allegedly making methamphetamine inside a vehicle in Carlstadt, New Jersey. He also was arrested in August 2014 on suspicion of operating a methamphetamine lab from the family’s Oakfield home, but that charge was apparently dismissed.
Family members said Morin was a logging truck driver who was due to return to work on Friday. He had been laid off for about a year and was looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. A deer and bird hunter, fisherman, occasional kayaker and avid mechanic, Morin loved engines of all sorts.
His father said he didn’t think his son was “into that anymore,” meaning illegal drug activity.
“I really can’t talk about it any further,” Morin said. “He was working. He had another job. He was driving over the road over the whole summer. He was doing good this whole summer. It all depended, but he was working a lot of hours.”
“I want to put my son to rest,” Morin added.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Oakfield.