PARIS — Officials said a New Hampshire man wanted in a camp burglary in Porter last year turned himself in at the Oxford County Jail on Monday after his DNA matched that on a cigarette butt found at the scene.

Jack A. Burkett, 19, of North Conway, N.H., faces charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief. He’s accused of breaking into a camp Breakneck Hill Road, about four miles from the New Hampshire border.

According to an arrest affidavit by Oxford County Deputy Matthew Noyes, a neighbor reported the break-in May 23, 2013. The camp and nearby shed were burglarized and items stolen. They included a new Champion electrical generator, a gas siphon, a Coleman fan, a 100-foot extension cord, food, an alarm clock and three bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey, according to Noyes.

In his affidavit, he reported finding a cigarette butt on the ground near the camp, which the owners said was not theirs. Noyes had the butt tested by the Maine State Crime Lab, which confirmed the presence of unknown male DNA.

Noyes said he contacted the Conway Police Department to alert them that the stolen items might be sold at pawn shops, and was informed by Detective Suzanne Scott that similar items had been found during a search of a home shared by Burkett and Ellis Wilson, 44.

A DNA test of Burkett came back with a match to the material found on the cigarette butt, Noyes reported. He determined the generator found in the men’s home was the one taken from the camp, Noyes reported. 

Burkett appeared in 11th District Court in South Paris on Monday afternoon and was released on $1,000 cash bail, according jail officials. 

pmcguire@sunjournal.com


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