FARMINGTON — A Rangeley man was indicted Wednesday on a manslaughter charge in the fiery crash that killed Rusty Knox, 35, of Wilton last October.

Mark Garner, 25, was also indicted on a charge of aggravated operating under the influence.

Garner told a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy last year that he’d drunk six beers and was speeding when his pickup crossed the centerline on Lambert Hill Road in Strong and slammed head-on into Knox’s pickup truck Oct. 25, according to a police affidavit.

Garner admitted to Deputy Andrew Morgan that he was at fault, saying he was driving too fast and lost control of his vehicle, according to Morgan’s affidavit.

Both vehicles burst into flames. 

Investigators said Knox was trapped in his burning truck and died at the scene. His body was taken to the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta for positive identification.

Garner and his two passengers, Dennis Hanson, 39, of Phillips and Felicia Bell, 32, of Phillips, were treated at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.

There, Garner told Morgan that he drank four to six beers prior to the crash and he didn’t feel impaired while driving, according to the affidavit.

Morgan wrote that he arrived at the scene to find both trucks on fire and Garner, Hanson and Bell frantic and yelling for help.

Bell said she had driven Garner and Hanson to Strong to get new tires and afterward Garner drove because she was driving too slow.

“Felicia stated that Mark was driving 80 mph just prior to the crash,” Morgan wrote. He also said Hanson told him, “Mark wanted to show off how fast his truck could go.”

A conviction on a Class A manslaughter charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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