|
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Police say woman was kicked to death
©Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | ||||||
 |
||||||
CARIBOU — A 19-year-old coffee shop employee kicked his female supervisor in the head, mouth and chest, then served customers while the woman died from her injuries in the bathroom, according to an affidavit released Tuesday. Christopher Shumway told Maine State Police detectives that he killed Erin Sperrey. He provided details that were in the affidavit released in conjunction with his initial court appearance on a murder charge. The killing occurred Sunday night while Shumway, of Caribou, and Sperrey, 20, of Presque Isle, were the only employees at the Tim Hortons shop in Caribou. Sperrey's body was found hours later in the rear seat of her car, which had landed in the median of Interstate 95 in Lincoln, 120 miles to the south, after spinning out during a heavy snowstorm. Shumway hitched a ride and was arrested Monday at a Motel 6 in Bangor, where police said he apparently tried to hang himself by wrapping a phone cord around his neck and tying it to the clothes rack. The suspect appeared at a brief arraignment in District Court and was returned to the Aroostook County Jail, where he was held pending a bail hearing within the next five days. The police affidavit quotes the manager of the Tim Hortons as saying that about $1,200 in currency and rolled coins was missing from the employee office. It also says that the motel clerk said Shumway paid for his room in cash, some of it rolled coins. Although the affidavit quoted Shumway as having talked recently about committing a robbery and fleeing to Massachusetts with the money, police stopped short of saying that robbery was the motive for the killing. "We probably have some thoughts, and what they are is thoughts," Lt. Dennis Appleton said. "We're not discussing anything that's outside the scope of the affidavit." Shumway told detectives that he followed Sperrey into the restaurant's freezer, pushed her down and took her car keys. When he and Sperrey walked back out, he apologized and returned the keys, the affidavit said. When Sperrey said she had to leave, the two struggled, Sperrey began screaming and Shumway began to strangle her, he told police. "She was fighting for her life," he said. After the fight moved into the bathroom, Shumway kicked Sperrey, causing blood to flow from her mouth. At that point, Shumway said, he left Sperrey in the bathroom to wait on customers at both the counter and the drive-through. Sperrey was breathing when he left but was not breathing when he returned, he said. Shumway said he dragged Sperrey to her car, put her in the back seat, drove to nearby Fort Fairfield for gasoline and cigarettes and continued to drive south before spinning off the road near Lincoln. The investigation began after a caller reported that the restaurant appeared to be open for business but no employees were present. Caribou police found blood in the bathroom and called homicide investigators. Sperrey died of multiple traumatic injuries, the state Medical Examiner's Office said.
|
||||||
