FAIRFIELD, Maine — A man from Benton has been charged with murder in the death of a man in Fairfield.
Edwin Weeks, 62, of Fairfield was found dead at 247 Main St. shortly before 3:45 p.m. Tuesday after a friend stopped by to check on him, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a release Friday.
Fairfield police responded first and called in the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit to assist in the investigation.
Late Tuesday night, detectives tried to stop a vehicle in Skowhegan driven by 22-year-old Raheem Shamar Goodwin of Benton, who was a person of interest in the case, according to Moss.
Goodwin, who was traveling toward Canaan on Route 2, proceeded to drive the vehicle into a ditch, barricade himself in the vehicle, and light the interior of the vehicle on the fire, the release stated.
Police, with assistance from the Somerset County Sheriff's Office, took Goodwin into custody after he exited the vehicle and brought him to the Somerset County Jail early Wednesday morning. He was held at the jail on a bail violation and charged with eluding.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy later in the day Wednesday and ruled Weeks' death a homicide. The office deemed Weeks' cause of death to be sharp force trauma, Moss said.
On Friday morning, Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit detectives charged Goodwin with murder, according to the release.
Goodwin and Weeks were familiar with each other, Moss said.
The investigation is ongoing, the release stated.