Waterville man indicted on attempted murder, arson charges

Firefighters return to the scene of an apartment fire May 4, 2024, at 6 Front Place in Waterville that had rekindled, after initially responding to the blaze during the overnight hours. Five people were displaced by the fire at the three-family apartment building in the city’s downtown area. Elijah Yeaton, 32, of Waterville was indicted Feb. 19 on attempted murder and arson charges in connection with the fire. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel file

AUGUSTA — A Waterville man was indicted Feb. 19 on attempted murder and arson charges in connection with a fire at an apartment building last year on Front Place in Waterville.

Elijah Seth Yeaton, 32, of Elm Street, was indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury in Capital Judicial Court, on two charges, including that on or about May 3, 2024, he started, caused or maintained a fire or explosion on his property or that of another, recklessly endangering a person or property of another, which constitutes a Class A arson crime.

The indictment also says Yeaton, with the intent to complete the commission of the Class A crime of murder, intentionally engaged in conduct that constituted a substantial step toward its commission. He intentionally, or knowingly attempted to cause the death of another person by setting a residential structure on fire, the indictment says.

A Class A arson crime is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine.

Representing the case was Jeremy Damren of the Maine Office of State Fire Marshal. An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but it indicates there is enough evidence to proceed with formal charges and a trial.

While the indictment didn’t specify the location of the fire, Waterville fire Chief Jason Frost confirmed Wednesday that it was at 6 Front Place, off Front Street. A news release issued Friday by Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety, confirmed that address.

The fire was reported just before midnight May 3, 2024, at the two-story, three-family apartment house off Front Street in the downtown area, not far from the Kennebec River. Waterville’s fire station is just around the corner from the scene, at the intersection of College Avenue and Main Street.

Firefighters from Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield and Skowhegan responded to the initial fire, Ryan Cote, D shift battalion chief, fire inspector and investigator for the Waterville Fire Department, said at the time. No injuries were reported.

Five people were displaced after the fire, which drew about 40 firefighters who extinguished it by 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Cote said.

Later that morning, just before 7 a.m., about a dozen firefighters returned to the scene because the fire had rekindled.

The state fire marshal’s office investigated the cause of the fire.

Early on the morning of May 4, 2024, the back part of the building where most of the fire occurred was a mass of charred debris. Cote said at the time that when firefighters arrived at the scene, heavy fire was showing from three sides of the building. A second alarm drew Winslow and Fairfield firefighters, as well as the Skowhegan Rapid Intervention Team, to the scene, and Oakland firefighters covered the Waterville station. All of the occupants of the building were out and accounted for, Cote said.

Moss said in the news release Friday that the fire marshal’s office, in collaboration with the Waterville police and fire departments, as well as the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office, arrested and charged Yeaton.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire after responding to the scene and notified the fire marshal’s office, whose investigators determined it had been set on a second-floor porch outside the rear entrance to an apartment, Moss said.

Following an extensive investigation, Yeaton, who was known to one of the apartment’s occupants and was familiar with the residence, was identified as a suspect, according to Moss.

On Feb. 20, Yeaton was arrested and charged with murder and attempted arson. He was in the Kennebec County jail at the time on an unrelated incident, which Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney described Wednesday. Separately from the indictment, Yeaton was publicly charged Feb. 18 with aggravated assault, terrorizing and disorderly conduct in connection with incidents that occurred at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter in Waterville, Maloney said.

The complaint alleges that on or about Feb. 16, Yeaton intentionally, knowingly or recklessly caused bodily injury to a person at the shelter, using brass knuckles, a dangerous weapon.

It also alleges that on that day, he communicated to three people a threat to murder them or cause them to be murdered, and “did consciously disregard a substantial risk that the natural and probable consequence of the threat was to place” them “in reasonable fear that the crime would be committed whether or not such consequence in fact occurred.” The complaint says he “did, in a public place, intentionally or recklessly cause annoyance to others by engaging in fighting without being licensed or privileged to do so.”