LUBEC, Maine — A Lubec man suspected of killing a woman found Jan. 11 in the trunk of a car has been arrested in Virginia. The woman who was found dead has been identified as his girlfriend.
Paul DeForest, 65, was arrested at a home in Warrenton, Virginia, on a warrant charging murder, according to a release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.
On Jan. 18, Maine Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Shannon Moss said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the woman who was killed as 58-year-old Eva Cox.
According to Moss, Cox was DeForest's girlfriend.
DeForest appeared in Virginia's Fauquier General District Court on Jan. 19 and waived extradition to Maine. As of Wednesday, Moss said he was at the Washington County Jail with an initial court appearance scheduled for 1 p.m. via Zoom.
This death marks the seventh homicide to happen in Washington County within two years.
Washington County deputies were called Jan. 10 to a home at 69 Jim's Head Road in Lubec for reports of an "altercation" and found evidence outside the home that prompted them to call the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit.
Police then began to search for Cox, who owned the home, and DeForest.
On Jan. 11, the search expanded to include the Maine Marine Patrol and Maine Warden Service, including a plane and state police K-9. Police found the body of a woman locked in the trunk of a car near the residence, according to the release.
Based on additional information, police obtained a warrant for DeForest's arrest on a murder charge.
According to the release, DeForest was located at a Virginia home, and the Fauquier County Sheriff's Department negotiated with him to come out of the home. He is being held on a fugitive from justice warrant.
Peter Case, Cox's brother, told NEWS CENTER Maine his sister was a nice girl. He said he had only met DeForest once briefly.
"Matter fact, I just met him a week or so ago. [I] went down to the store and Eva introduced me to him, and he just kept right on going, walking," Case said.
Case said the news of Cox's death came as a shock to the family.
"They didn't realize that he was that kind of man that would do something like that," Case said.