PARIS — One of two men charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two Rumford men in August of 2009 entered a guilty plea in Oxford County Superior Court Thursday.
Eric Hamel entered a guilty plea on two counts of murder in Oxford County Superior Court Thursday.
Eric Hamel, 20, pleaded guilty to shooting to death Roger Day, 48 and Victor Sheldon Jr., 22, inside Day's Pine Street residence on the night of Aug. 3, 2009.
Hamel, a Mexico resident at the time of the slayings, had been scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence but entered the guilty plea instead.
Hamel was the alleged trigger man in the slayings. Police say he used a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver to shoot Sheldon and Day. Hamel later led police to the where he had hidden the weapon in woods off Oak Street.
Also facing murder charges is Richard A. Moulton Jr. Moulton, 21, of Rumford, is awaiting trial, which has been set for February of 2011.
According to police reports, Hamel told investigators that he met with Moulton on three or four occasions to plan the killings. Hamel said Moulton was upset with Sheldon and that his girlfriend Gayla, Sheldon's estranged wife, was afraid the two children she had with Sheldon would be taken away if Sheldon went to jail.
Sheldon was scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 4, 2009, on a charge of domestic assault against Gayla, but the charge was dismissed on Aug. 3, before the men were killed, after the District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute it.
Hamel told police that he agreed to kill the two men for $2,000, and that he stole a .38-caliber hand gun from a neighbor's house. Moulton went to Day's house on the evening of Aug. 3, but Hamel said he went into the bathroom when he saw Hamel outside. Moulton originally said he did not know the shooter but later identified Hamel, according to police reports.
A sentencing date has not been set for Hamel. He and Moulton are being held without bail at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn.
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