A suspect has been arrested in Maryland and charged with murder in connection with the killing of a wealthy Maine philanthropist and lawyer, police announced Wednesday.
Robert G. Fuller Jr., 87, formerly of Augusta, was found dead inside the Cogir Potomac Senior Living Facility in Potomac, Maryland, the morning of Feb. 14 with a gunshot wound to his head.
Police had released few details about Fuller’s death or the circumstances surrounding it over the last 10 days except a short surveillance video of the suspect. The video ultimately helped lead to the arrest of Maurquise Emillo James, 22, of White Marsh, Maryland. He has been charged with first-degree murder.
Police did not hint at a motive, but said James had worked at the assisted care facility since October.
“(James) had worked the previous night and that he administered medicine to the victim and his roommate, as per usual,” Capt. Sean Gagen, commander of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, said during a news conference Wednesday. “It did not appear that anything had been taken from inside the apartment.”
James continued working at the facility for several days following the killing, according to Gagen. He had tampered with several doors at the facility so as not to set off alarms, police said, and came to authorities’ attention following a tip from a staff member this week.
Police released a video last week showing a suspect with long black hair and a yellow flannel shirt leaving the facility following the killing. A new still image from the video was released Wednesday showing the figure in a mask and wig police allege James wore when he shot Fuller.
James was pulled over by a Maryland state trooper for an unrelated offense early Tuesday morning. During that stop, he allegedly opened fire on the officer and fled the scene. Authorities linked the two incidents by finding the same shell casings at the scene of each crime, Gagen said.
James faces additional attempted first-degree murder and felony assault charges, among others, stemming from Tuesday’s incident. He is being held without bond in Maryland.
As for why James might have targeted Fuller, police didn’t offer any answers. Gagen previously told the Washington Post this week that he believed Fuller “didn’t have any enemies at all.”
“Upon speaking with (James), he said the relationship was very good and he would never hurt Mr. Fuller,” Gagen said Wednesday. “We’re hopeful that as we get further into the investigation we’re going to get a better sense of what was going on behind the scenes.”
Fuller and his late wife, Moira, had lived in Winthrop and had contributed millions of dollars to numerous causes in and around central Maine, including MaineGeneral Medical Center, Kennebec Valley YMCA, Lithgow Public Library and Kennebec Historical Society.
At Cony High School in Augusta, Fuller’s name is written into the turf of the school’s football field. The stadium is named in Fuller’s honor for the $1.6 million he donated toward renovating the school’s athletic facilities.
Rep. Bill Bridgeo, D-Augusta, who served as Augusta’s city manager for more than two decades and developed a long-standing friendship with Fuller in that time, described him as “one of the most important benefactors in modern Augusta.”
“He was a true renaissance man. I think he was brilliant,” Bridgeo said. “He was a very successful attorney in Maine, but he was also a very proud retired captain in the Naval Reserve.”
Fuller was the descendant of Augusta-native Melville Fuller, who served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and famously voted to uphold racial segregation in the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson decision, which institutionalized the “separate but equal” doctrine for much of the 20th century.
A statue of the former chief justice was commissioned by Robert Fuller Jr. in 2013 and installed outside the Kennebec County Courthouse in Augusta. It stirred controversy and debate over the justice’s legacy following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.
While the statue had been a gift to the county, Kennebec County commissioners sold the statue back to Fuller for $1 in 2021. He ultimately removed it the following year.
