A man accused of killing his girlfriend in Skowhegan remained hospitalized Tuesday in New Hampshire, police said, four days after he was injured while fleeing officers in a lengthy, multistate pursuit.
Authorities in Maine, meanwhile, were waiting to see how additional charges against Dane Burke play out in potentially two other states.
Burke, 55, of Skowhegan, was arrested Saturday in Dunbarton, New Hampshire, and charged in the death of Nichole Jackson, 46, also of Skowhegan, the Maine State Police said previously.
Skowhegan police found Jackson’s body late at night Jan. 14 at 361 W. Front St. after receiving a report of a person not breathing, state police said. An autopsy the next day at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force and sharp force trauma. State police major crimes detectives, at some point in the investigation, determined Burke was a suspect in the killing and obtained a warrant to arrest him on a charge of murder, police said.
On Saturday, around 8 a.m., police in Lowell, Massachusetts, attempted to stop a vehicle that matched the description of Burke’s and he fled north to New Hampshire, Maine State Police said.
His vehicle eventually crashed into a tree, and he barricaded himself inside, police said. New Hampshire State Police said troopers took Burke into custody after deploying nonlethal munitions.
A spokesperson for the New Hampshire State Police, Michal Sventek, did not provide an update on Burke’s condition Tuesday, saying only that he remained in a hospital and no further information was available.
New Hampshire State Police on Saturday described Burke’s injuries as “serious.” Maine State Police said the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Once released from the hospital, Burke is expected to be transferred to a jail before he is returned to Maine, New Hampshire State Police said.
Burke will eventually need to be extradited to Maine “and that might take some extra time,” Danna Hayes, a spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, said via email Tuesday. The office prosecutes all homicides in the state.
In New Hampshire, like in most states, someone charged with a crime in another state can choose whether to waive extradition proceedings.
Maine authorities were not sure yet if prosecutors would proceed with charges against Burke in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and whether that would delay the extradition process, Hayes said.
Sventek said police in New Hampshire charged Burke with a felony count of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon; misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest or detention and disobeying a police officer; and a charge of arrest prior to requisition, which is the technical term used in that state for the accusation of being a fugitive from justice.
No court date for Burke in New Hampshire was available Tuesday.
It is unclear if Burke will face charges in Massachusetts. A spokesperson for the Lowell Police Department, Deputy Superintendent Mark LeBlanc, did not respond to an emailed inquiry Tuesday.
The Massachusetts State Police, which assisted Lowell police in the chase, referred questions about possible charges to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors in that Massachuetts county had no active cases against Burke filed as of midday Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the office, Sarah Lamson.
Police in Lowell began the chase after attempting to stop Burke’s vehicle, which had Ohio license plates, Maine State Police said.
New Hampshire State Police were then notified the chase was heading north on Interstate 93 toward the state line.
“While responding, Troopers received additional information that the suspected driver was wanted in connection with a homicide investigation in Skowhegan, Maine,” New Hampshire State Police said in a statement. “Troopers then joined the pursuit as the vehicle, a 2018 silver Jeep Compass, crossed the state line in Salem.”
The pursuit continued on parts of I-93, I-293, Route 101, and Route 114, before it ended with the crash on Route 13 in Dunbarton, according to New Hampshire State Police. Online mapping shows that route is nearly 50 miles. Dubarton is southwest of Concord.
Before the chase and arrest, police in Maine had released little information about Jackson’s death.
On Thursday, state police investigators were working throughout the day in a field at 361 W. Front St. in Skowhegan, where there are two camper trailers and several vehicles parked. The road is also known as U.S. routes 2 and 201A.
On Friday, state police confirmed the Major Crimes Unit — Central was investigating a death at the property but withheld Jackson’s name and cause of death while investigators worked to positively identify her and notify her family.
Court filings in Skowhegan, including the affidavit supporting the arrest warrant for Burke, were not available Tuesday.
Walter Argraves, who sells videos, games and other items out of a small shop also at 361 W. Front St., said he had met Jackson only once or twice and never met Burke.
He estimated the two had lived on the property in a recreational vehicle trailer for a few months and believed Jackson worked as a traveling nurse, although he was unsure where she was employed.
Argraves said he rushed to his shop at around 5 a.m. Thursday after people called him reporting a heavy police presence in the area. He said he rents the space from a man who owns the larger property, including where the trailers next door are parked. Other people not related to Jackson or Burke live in the other camper, he said.
Efforts to contact family members and friends of Jackson through social media Tuesday were unsuccessful.
