FARMINGTON — Police arrested five people Thursday night on felony drug trafficking charges involving morphine in connection with the death of another person. 

The charges were made after the Farmington Police Department, led by Sgt. Edward Hastings, completed their investigation of the death of Marilyn Rider, 52, of Farmington.

Officers were called to Rider’s home at 103 Silver Maple Lane on Nov. 11 for an unattended death, an apparent drug overdose, said police Chief Jack Peck. The drug was morphine, and he was not able to say if other types of drugs were involved.

“Through their investigation, officers were able to determine the source of the illegal drugs used in this case, along with a significant amount of information about the suspected drug activity involving those arrested,” he wrote in a statement.

Rider’s boyfriend, Roy Gordon, 42, of Wilton was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs which caused the death of another person, three felony counts of unlawful furnishing of illegal drugs and one misdemeanor charge of falsifying physical evidence.

Terry Oliver, 53, of Wilton was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs which caused the death of another person and two felony counts of trafficking illegal drugs.

Seth Gordon, 23, of Wilton was arrested on a felony charge of unlawful furnishing of illegal drugs which caused the death of another person.

Erick Barnes, 27, of Industry was arrested on a felony charge of unlawful furnishing illegal drugs which caused the death of another person and a misdemeanor charge of falsifying physical evidence.

Scott Kidder, 32, of Wilton was arrested on a felony count of furnishing illegal drugs.

Gordon and Barnes are charged with falsifying physical evidence for removing material considered evidence from the scene before police arrived, Peck said.

Police received a report completed by the Chief Medical Examiner on Feb. 13 which concluded that Rider’s death was due to a drug overdose.

Armed with warrants, officers from the Farmington Department with help from Wilton Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police arrested these five people Thursday night on warrants issued by the Franklin County District Court, he said.

Bail was set at $75,000 cash for Roy Gordon and Terry Oliver; at $50,000 cash for Seth Gordon and Erick Barnes and at $15,000 cash for Scott Kidder.

As of Friday morning, the five remained at Franklin County Detention Center.  Peck expected they would be arraigned Friday since Monday is a holiday, he said.

“It was a difficult investigation. We were just waiting for the medical examiner to report on the cause of death which we received Wednesday then Sgt. Hastings pursued the warrants Thursday,” Peck said. 

No other arrests are expected in the case.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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