Former neighbor charged in death of New Portland woman

Associated Press

In this file photo, Emily Brochu, left, daughter of murder victim Louise Brochu of New Portland, and her aunt and uncle, Lucy Comber and Luke Brochu, attend a news conference at the Maine Public Safety offices in Augusta, where a $20,000 reward was announced for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the murder of Louise Brochu. State police said Thursday that Jeffrey LaGasse, 31, currently serving time on another offense, has been charged with killing Brochu. The victim, seen in framed photo, was killed in June 2007. 

- Associated Press

Louise Brochu

- Submitted photo

AUGUSTA — A man who was once questioned by police about the death of Louise Brochu has been indicted on a charge of murder, Maine State Police said Thursday.

Brochu, 50, was found dead outside her business, New England Wood Flooring, in June 2007.

Jeffrey LaGasse, 31, of New Portland was indicted by a Somerset County grand jury and is expected to make his first court appearance on the charge on Friday in Somerset County Superior Court in Skowhegan.

LaGasse was questioned by police a few days after Brochu's body was found off Route 27 in New Portland, where she ran a flooring business next to her home. LaGasse was a former employee.

He told a reporter at the time that police took away his car and sport utility vehicle, searched him and his apartment and took photos of him.

"First, they asked me if I knew of anybody who was upset with her," LaGasse told a reporter from the Waterville Sentinel. "Then, they started putting words in my mouth. They told me they thought I needed money, that she said no, and it escalated from there."

LaGasse, who lived in an apartment less than a mile from the crime scene with his girlfriend and her three children, said he once worked for Brochu but didn't know anything about her death.

The details of Brochu's death and the results of an autopsy have remained sealed from the public during the investigation. Her family had offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of her killer.

LaGasse has been in custody on an unrelated charge since November 2007, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland said. LaGasse is currently serving a sentence at the Maine State Prison for a violation of probation.