AUBURN – David Lakin and Shaun Tuttle appeared in court Thursday and denied charges that they killed an 82-year-old Lewiston man last month.

At an arraignment in Androscoggin County Superior Court, the two men sat on different benches and did not speak with each other.

Lakin, 22, of 164 Bartlett St., stood before the court justice first and quietly entered a plea of innocent.

Tuttle, 21, of 35 Wood St., went next and entered the same plea.

Both men were ordered held without bail. The case is scheduled to be heard in court again on the first of July.

The two men are accused in the death of James McManus, who was beaten, strangled with a rope and run over with his own car before he was stuffed into the vehicle trunk, according to police.

McManus’ body was found in the trunk of his Buick, March 10. Investigators said it was Tuttle who called police to report they would find a body inside the trunk on Horton Street.

Both suspects were arrested the day after the body was discovered. In an earlier court hearing, each blamed the other for the death of McManus, who was killed after riding with the two men early March 10 to a remote road in Turner.

Both men claimed to have been passed out inside the car while the other beat and strangled McManus. While McManus was unconscious, one of the suspects ran over the 82-year-old’s head, according to the court affidavit.

Later, with the body in the trunk, the two men drove back to Lewiston, bought cigarettes at a store and went to a car wash to clean the outside of the Buick, according to Tuttle’s statement to police.

After the court hearing Thursday, both suspects were returned to the Androscoggin County Jail where they have remained since they were arrested.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com