AUGUSTA — The Augusta couple found dead early Friday morning in an SUV in the woods in Manchester died of gunshot wounds, and police are investigating the case as a double homicide, according to a Department of Public Safety spokesman.
The Office of the State Medical Examiner completed autopsies Saturday on the remains of Eric Williams and his girlfriend, Bonnie Royer, which confirmed that they died from gunshot wounds, said the spokesman, Stephen McCausland, in a news release.
Detectives spent Saturday interviewing friends and relatives of the couple, and police continue to seek anyone who had contact with them on Thursday and Friday, McCausland said.
The bodies were found early in the morning in Williams’ SUV off Sanford Road in Manchester. State police are investigating the case with assistance from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.
Police have received several tips from the public and detectives plan to follow up each call, McCausland said. Anyone with information on the couple is asked to call state police in Augusta at 624-7076.
What is now considered a crime scene is not far from the home on Easy Street in Augusta where Williams and Royer lived.
Police found the two bodies after responding to a 911 call from one of the victims about 3:30 a.m. Also, an entry on the Somerset County dispatch log shows a complaint about shots being fired at the same location in Manchester was made at 3:34 a.m.
Little information was available from the couple’s relatives.
Williams had the nickname “Chunkie,” including it on his Facebook page. He grew up in Augusta and had been a manager at Kellermeyer Building Services until sometime this year.
Williams went to Cony High School in Augusta and later Kennebec Valley Technical College, studying electrical line work.
Royer, too, went to Cony.
Early Saturday afternoon, several vehicles were parked in the driveway and on the street at the Easy Street home. However, a man talking on a cellphone in the driveway said all the family members were out, and only friends remained there to help out.
He agreed to pass on a message to the family from a reporter seeking information about Eric Williams.
Also on Saturday, Royer’s younger brother, Christian, who was in Gardiner, said he had to talk to his siblings before he would be able to speak to a reporter about his sister’s life.
A number of people posted messages of sympathy on Royer’s Facebook page. Several alluded to her daughter, McKenzie.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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