Four more men who have been charged in connection with a fatal Portland shooting this summer have pleaded not guilty.
The men are each facing two counts of elevated aggravated assault and one count of conspiracy to commit elevated aggravated assault after 54-year-old Susan McHugh of Gray died in an attack in Morrill’s Corner between what police have called rival motorcycle clubs. But police are still searching for a sixth man who has evaded law enforcement for weeks.
The attorney general’s office confirmed Jason Keenan, 45, of Bath; James Moody, 30, of Bowdoin; Caleb Pelkey, 33, of Portland; and Nathan Walsh, 48, of Lewiston, all appeared in Cumberland County Superior Court on Thursday morning for their arraignments and entered not guilty pleas.
A fifth man facing the same charges – Kaleb Cidre, 22, of Windham – also pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week. They have all posted bail at $10,000 cash each and are no longer in custody, according to the Cumberland County Jail.
All five men were arrested in November, weeks after 47-year-old Aaron Karp of Naples pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of McHugh on July 20.
Karp is accused of shooting and killing McHugh during a dispute between the two clubs that stemmed from a fight at a Westbrook bar earlier that day. Karp is being held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail.
Prosecutors say McHugh shot a single round at a group of Outlaw members who were attacking her husband, Troy, her son, Travis Frechette, and their friend, William Holmes, that night.
A Portland detective who testified at Karp’s bail hearing in September said he saw Karp return fire on security camera footage, shooting nine times at McHugh in the Forest Avenue parking lot where the shooting occurred.
Holmes and Troy McHugh were brought to the hospital will skull fractures.
Karp’s attorney, Verne Paradie, said at the bail hearing that no witnesses identified Karp as the shooter – only blurry surveillance camera footage. He also suggested the disagreement was provoked by Troy McHugh, Frechette and Holmes earlier that day when they assaulted some members of the Higher Calling motorcycle group on the back patio of Westbrook’s Brookside Food and Drink.
While it is not clear exactly how the six suspects were connected to the shooting, at least some of the men were accused of participating in the Portland attack with Karp.
Police are still searching for Kristofer Haken, 45, of Londonderry, New Hampshire. The Portland Police Department said he may be affiliated with the Outlaws motorcycle club and described him as “dangerous and may be armed.”
