The New York man accused of killing two Augusta residents early Christmas morning made his first court appearance Wednesday at the Capital Judicial Center, but documents indicating why he was charged remain under wraps.
David W. Marble Jr., 29, of Rochester, New York, has been charged with two counts of murder related to the shooting deaths of Eric Williams, 35, and Bonnie Royer, 26, who were found dead by police responding to a 911 call one of them made at 3:30 a.m. Dec. 25. The couple was in a sport utility vehicle on Sanford Road in Manchester, not far from where they lived on Easy Street in north Augusta.
Police said Tuesday the shootings were drug-related but offered no further explanation surrounding the circumstances of the deaths.
Also, police in Rochester, New York, say they have been “actively seeking to locate and arrest Marble since Oct. 30 in connection with a car/pedestrian crash there in July that left the pedestrian with serious injuries.”
Marble was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Augusta police after they stopped a motor vehicle near Memorial Circle in Augusta. He was a passenger in that vehicle.
About a dozen relatives and friends of the victims sat in the courtroom Wednesday to watch the five-minute hearing, which attracted a dozen members of the news media as well.
Marble was not asked to enter a plea to the charges and spoke only to tell the judge that he understood his rights.
The prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese, told reporters after the hearing that Marble knew the victims, but she declined to offer any additional details. Family members of Williams and Royer also said they did not want to speak to the media.
The court impounded the affidavit supporting Marble’s arrest, and it was not available Wednesday. Marchese said she did not want the document released because “it is an active ongoing investigation.” Maine State Police, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office all worked on the case.
Attorneys Pamela Ames and David Geller represented Marble, who most recently was living in an apartment at 28 Sewall St., in Augusta. That is the address listed in the court complaint.
Ames said after the hearing that she had met briefly with Marble to review the complaint and his rights. The defense was provided with a copy of the affidavit with the details police say support Marble’s arrest in the double homicide.
Marble’s nickname on his Facebook page is “Dee Money.” A post from Tuesday, apparently by Marble, says, “This was a good Christmas after all everybody got to present this year and I was not in locked up.” Another of his posts, from Monday, says, “Forgive me GOD FOR I HAVE SIN. Spiritus Sancti.”
Within minutes of police announcing Marble’s arrest, relatives of the dead couple began posting angry comments on his Facebook page.
In court on Wednesday, Justice Michaela Murphy read aloud the complaint that says Marble intentionally or knowingly caused the deaths of Williams and Royer with the use of a firearm. She told him that convictions carry a maximum sentence of life without parole, with a mandatory minimum of 29 years in prison on each charge and that the sentences could be consecutive because of the two victims involved. The minimum mandatory sentence for murder is 25 years, but the use of the firearm carries an additional four-year minimum.
Marchese asked that a Harnish bail hearing, which determines whether a person accused of a capital crime should be held without bail, to be set for April 8 unless the defense waives it.
In the meantime, Marble is being held without bail at the Kennebec County jail. On Wednesday he wore an orange jail uniform and eyeglasses with black rims. His wrists were cuffed to a wide leather belt around his waist and his ankles were shackled.
This is the second time in recent weeks that the courts have sealed an affidavit related to a murder charge in Kennebec County.
In late November, Damik Davis, 25, of Queens, New York, made an initial court appearance on a charge of murder after the death of Joseph G. Marceau, 31, of Augusta.
Marceau’s body was found Nov. 23 in a fourth-floor apartment at 75 Washington St. in Augusta, and police have not said how he was killed.
Family members of Williams and Royer have planned a memorial vigil for the couple from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday outside their Augusta home. People are being asked to meet and park near Summerhaven and Sanford roads and walk to the house.
Williams’ funeral is set for Saturday, and arrangements have yet to be made for Royer.
Marble has been behind bars before. He was arrested in June 2010 in Rochester and charged with beating and robbing a man in that city. According to records from New York state, he was sentenced to prison on a conviction for robbery, third degree, and was released on probation in May 2011.
Marble also was involved in a July 18 traffic accident in Rochester in which he is accused of hitting a 50-year-old man who was crossing the street, according to an amended Oct. 6 accident report filed with the New York State Bureau of Motor Vehicles. On that document, Marble’s driving status is listed as “unlicensed,” and it says he left the scene of the accident.
Investigator Francis Camp, with the Rochester Police Department, said Marble faces a felony charge of assault in the second degree, an extraditable offense, in connection with the accident, and that police have been looking to arrest him since Oct. 30. Now, Camp said, “we’re coordinating with the Monroe County district attorney’s office and your local authorities in the state of Maine to resolve this.”
Camp said it was a question of which charges Marble would face first.
“Obviously, though, the double murder is much more serious, not to diminish what he did to this victim at all,” Camp said.
The accident report indicates four separate charges or violations filed against Marble in connection with the collision, including aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, driving without a license, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. The victim in the crash is identified in the report as Currie Clanton, 50.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Rochester resident Jerry Bunton said Canton is his brother.
“(Marble) ran over my brother. Then he actually backed up to get him off the hood and ran over him a second time,” Bunton said.
Clanton suffered a number of bone fractures and a brain injury and spent weeks in intensive care as well as having several surgeries. Bunton said Clanton is receiving therapy at home to learn to walk and communicate again.
Bunton said he wishes Marble had been behind bars in New York facing the charges resulting from the accident.
“When I saw that two people were killed and now their families have to go through the same thing we went through, I just wanted to scream,” Bunton said Wednesday. “The situation in your city is just so unnecessary.”
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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