Dude, Maine's got a murder mystery!

[Theresa]

Police: Man found shot linked to poisonings
Saturday, May 3, 2003 Posted: 1:58 PM EDT (1758 GMT)



Police tape surrounds Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church in New Sweden, Maine, on Tuesday.






A tiny Maine community has been rocked by news that several churchgoers were served coffee laced with arsenic. CNN's Jason Carroll has the story. (May 2)

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NEW SWEDEN, Maine (CNN) -- Police said Saturday they believe a man found shot in his home is linked to arsenic poisonings in which a 78-year-old man died and 15 other church members were hospitalized in New Sweden, Maine.

It's too early to know "whether it was one or several people" involved in the case, but authorities have found links between Daniel Bondeson, 53, found Friday shot in his home, and the poisonings, Col. Michael Sperry told reporters.

Bondeson, a church member, was taken to Caribou hospital where he died Friday night from a gunshot wound, which may have been self-inflicted, Sperry said.

Sperry said an autopsy is set for Monday to determine the cause of death. He would not say whether Bondeson left a note.

"This is an open investigation, we are still looking at who's involved in this, but the shooting yesterday provided us (with) significant information to guide us in that area," Sperry said.

The state police chief would not divulge what he believed linked Bondeson to the poisonings nor would he comment on a possible motive. He said a search of Bondeson's house and farm could take several days.

Friday's shooting came the same day that police investigating the poisonings visited members of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church seeking interviews, fingerprints and DNA samples.

The parishioners became ill Sunday after a weekend of events that included a bake sale Saturday and a church social Sunday.

Sperry said coffee that officials later determined had been laced with arsenic was the source of the poisonings, but that he did not know when it had been tainted.

Sperry said he did not believe Bondeson attended church Sunday, but would not comment on whether Bondeson was at the bake sale.

Church elder Walter Morrill, 78, died hours after Sunday's church social, and the other 15 church members remained hospitalized Saturday with arsenic poisoning.

Eight were in stable condition at Cary Medical Center in Caribou and the other seven -- who had been in critical condition -- were being treated at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, a hospital spokesman said.

He would not release their conditions Saturday.

Many of the parishioners, most of whom are of Swedish descent, are friends or are related to each other, Sperry said.

The incident has turned life topsy-turvy in this tiny farming town of 621 people in the northeastern section of the state.

"It was a shock," said Jerry Nelson, the nephew of one of the victims.

Arsenic was once used as an agricultural pesticide and can still be found in abundance in rural areas of the state, Sperry said.

[PrankishSmart]

Freaky

[@Chuckles]

well maq you're the jag fanatic, i'm sure you could handle this case