Jan. 7—Three men accused of participating in a deadly fight near Morrill’s Corner in Portland last summer are asking a district court judge to modify their bail conditions so they can prepare for trial.
The defendants — Jason Keenan, 45, of Bath; James Moody, 30, of Bowdoin; and Caleb Pelkey, 33, of Portland — are not allowed to contact each other, a condition they challenged in Cumberland County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. District Court Judge Jed French did not make a decision at Tuesday’s hearing and said he will issue a written decision in the next few days.
Those three defendants, plus Kaleb Cidre, 22, of Windham, and Nathan Walsh, 48, of Lewiston, are all facing the same charges related to their alleged roles in the attack: two counts of elevated aggravated assault and one count of conspiracy to commit elevated aggravated assault.
Their defense attorneys anticipate the five individual cases will be joined in March. If the co-defendants are not allowed to contact each other, they say, it will be difficult to build a defense.
All five suspects posted a $10,000 bail and pleaded not guilty at their arraignments last month. They were arrested months after Aaron Karp, 47, of Naples, was charged with murder in the death of 54-year-old Susan McHugh, of Gray. Karp pleaded not guilty in November.
McHugh died from a single gunshot wound on the night of July 20 after a fight between members of two motorcycle clubs broke out in a parking lot on Forest Avenue. The fight involved several weapons, including mini sledgehammers, a police-style baton and a switchblade knife. Prosecutors say the five men had a hand in planning and executing the attack, which injured McHugh’s husband and their friend.
Pelkey and Moody sat with the public Tuesday as their attorneys, David Bobrow and Daniel Dubé, and Keenan’s attorney, Vincent LoConte, presented the motion. The attorneys said not allowing contact is “overly restrictive” and will impact their defense against the state when preparing for trial, currently planned for September.
Bobrow and Dubé said the defense is already struggling without their clients able to be in the same room.
“I hope (the judge) does rule in our favor in terms of clients being able to communicate in the presence of counsel, at least that,” Dubé said in an interview after the hearing. “There’s less communication than there would be, and it’s less productive.”
But prosecutors argue that because all five men are accused of conspiring against McHugh’s family and friend, who are members of another motorcycle club called FSU, there’s a risk they could continue to hurt people.
Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis described the men as part of a “criminal unit.” He said it’s not unusual for co-defendants like them to be given no-contact orders.
While it’s unclear exactly how the suspects are connected to the case, at least some of them were present when Karp, who is being held without bail at Cumberland County Jail, allegedly shot and killed McHugh after the groups exchanged gunfire.
Portland police Detective Jeffrey Tully testified at Karp’s bail hearing in September that the dispute began at a Westbrook bar on July 20 and escalated into multiple shots fired in the Morrill’s Corner parking lot. Ellis said the five suspects parked their motorcycles across from the scene of the crime and joined Karp in the attack.
Prosecutors say McHugh fired once in the Portland parking lot at a group of Outlaw members who were attacking her son Travis Frechette, husband Troy McHugh and their friend William Holmes, all of whom were sent to the hospital with skull fractures. They say Karp was spotted on security camera footage shooting at McHugh nine times.
But Karp’s attorney argues that the fight only started when Frechette, Holmes and McHugh assaulted some members of the Higher Calling motorcycle group at the back patio of the Westbrook bar earlier that day.
Portland police confirmed Tuesday that they are still searching for a sixth suspect, 45-year-old Kristofer Haken, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, whom they say is “dangerous and may be armed” and may be affiliated with the Outlaws motorcycle club.
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