AUBURN — Lawyers representing a local man facing two murder charges stemming from a slaying in Poland last year argued Friday that his trial should be moved to a different county.

Aaron Aldrich Androscoggin County Jail photo

Ashley Perry told Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Jennifer Archer that pretrial publicity has made it impossible for 47-year-old Aaron Aldrich to get a fair trial.

Perry offered as evidence to bolster her argument copies of six news articles about the case.

She said the exhibits represent “only a fraction of the media coverage that has persisted for this case over the course of the past roughly year and a half” since Aldrich’s arrest.

Perry said the standard the judge must consider is “whether there exists in this county a prejudice so great against the defendant that the defendant could not obtain a fair, impartial trial in this county and fair, impartial jurors in this county.”

She took the judge through the contents of the articles which, Perry said, described the two charges of intentional or knowing murder against Aldrich, including details of his criminal background as well as his photo.

Later articles include specifics of the prosecutor’s case from an affidavit found in court records, Perry said.

She noted that nonsubscribing readers were able to access information about the case and Aldrich’s photo.

“Your honor, it is very apparent that because of this extensive media coverage, that the defendant cannot, will not have an opportunity to obtain a fair and impartial jury in this county where there is such high interest in this case and extensive coverage,” Perry said.

Justice Archer asked where Perry believed Aldrich could get a fair trial, considering the six articles about the case are available online.

Perry said despite their online presence, articles about the case are of particular interest to residents of Androscoggin County.

Archer pressed Perry on her argument that information found in some of the articles is untrue. Perry clarified that the articles accurately reflect what is alleged against Aldrich in court documents. But she added that the defense would challenge certain statements found in those documents and that the defense’s version of events surrounding the slayings hasn’t been made public.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue cited several cases where a judge ruled against change of venue despite pretrial publicity.

Often, the decision whether the defendant could receive a fair trial was deferred until jury selection when prospective jurors were questioned about their exposure to information about those cases and whether they would be able to remain fair and impartial during a trial, Bogue said.

Bogue took issue with Perry’s statement that the six articles represented “only a fraction” of the media coverage in the Aldrich case without providing an affidavit to back up that claim.

“I don’t think that in the limited information presented to the court today, we have that high level of sort of extensive coverage of this case,” Bogue said.

Justice Archer said she planned to read the six articles presented by Perry and cases cited by the attorneys before reaching a decision on whether to move the trial to a different county.

Even if she were to deny the defendant’s motion, Archer said she might later conclude, based on additional evidence, that the trial should be moved before it gets underway.

Aldrich was indicted by a grand jury in April 2023 in the fatal shootings of Shoeb Mohamed Adan, 21, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Mohamed Aden, 16, of Lewiston.

The two victims were found Feb. 21, 2023, by Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were dispatched to a mobile home at 205 Tripp Road in Poland for a welfare check.

Officers discovered the body of Aden on the living room floor and Adan’s body on the floor of a different room, according to police.

Aden appeared to have been shot in the arm, back and chest. Spent shell casings from what appeared to have been a 9 mm gun were found near the body; casings that appeared to be the same caliber were found near Adan’s body.

A medical examiner would later rule the two victims died from gunshot wounds.

Aldrich was identified as a suspect and was later captured in New Hampshire.

Aaron Aldrich appears Friday on a monitor in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn via Zoom. His attorneys, Thomas Carey and Ashley Perry, shown at left, argued that his trial should be moved out of Androscoggin County because of pretrial publicity. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue is seated at right. Christopher Williams/Sun Journal