PARIS — A trial date has been set for a teenager charged with pulling the trigger in a double homicide case in Rumford last August.

The trial of 19-year-old Eric Hamel is scheduled to open Nov. 5 with jury selection. The case will be heard in Oxford County Superior Court before Justice Robert Clifford.

Hamel, of Mexico Avenue in Mexico, is accused of shooting 48-year-old Roger Leroy Day Jr. and 22-year-old Victor Reed Sheldon at Day’s Pine Street residence on Aug. 3, 2009.

Richard A. Moulton Jr., 21, of Franklin Street in Rumford, is also charged with two counts of murder. He is accused of helping to plan the killings and offering to pay Hamel to kill the two men.

Maine Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson said no trial date has been set for Moulton, and that the two men will be tried separately if Moulton’s case goes before a jury.

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.

According to a transcript of a police interview, investigators questioned Hamel from about 11:32 p.m. Aug. 6 to 3:15 a.m. Aug. 7. Hamel initially denied involvement in the murder, but later confessed to shooting Day and Sheldon. He also led police to a firearm buried in the woods off Oak Street.

George Hess, Hamel’s lawyer, has hired expert witnesses to assist in the defense. In a motion for funds for a forensic psychologist, he said he believes Hamel was suffering from a “mental health disorder.” He said under state law, an abnormal state of mind may raise reasonable doubt over whether a defendant was in a culpable state of mind, and may also lead to a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. Hess has requested a ballistics expert as well, arguing that a bullet and fragment found in the bodies may be from different weapons.

Hess has also filed several motions to suppress evidence in the case. These challenge Hamel’s statements to police; the DNA sample he provided to police; a photo lineup given to a witness who saw a man fleeing Day’s house; and evidence gathered from a search of Hamel’s residence, computer, and MySpace records.

Hess argued that Hamel did not waive his Miranda rights or give consent for the questioning or DNA sample, that the photo lineup was “impermissibly suggestive,” and that there was no probable cause for the searches of Hamel’s residence or belongings.

Benson replied that Hamel told police he understood his rights and did not request a lawyer during the interview. He said there was no coercion by police in the interview or collection of the DNA sample, that the witness was told to disregard a photo he had seen of Hamel on the news in his consideration of the photos, and that it was reasonable for police to conclude that evidence of the crimes might be found at Hamel’s residence.

A hearing on the motions to suppress has not been scheduled. Benson said one will likely take place this summer.

[email protected]