AUBURN — A Lewiston man charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Lewiston man in October was ordered Tuesday held without bail pending trial.
Barry Zollarcoffer in a 2019 booking photo. Androscoggin County Jail photo
Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Harold Stewart II listened to arguments over whether probable cause had been established by prosecutors to support a charge of intentional or knowing murder against Barry Zollarcoffer, 48, and whether the judge should allow the defendant to post bail.
Stewart determined prosecutors had presented enough evidence to establish probable cause for his arrest and that he shouldn’t be allowed bail.
A person charged with murder is not automatically allowed bail in Maine because that charge is a former capital punishment crime. A murder conviction is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
But the judge did set bail at $75,000 cash or $100,000 in real estate for Zollarcoffer’s alleged accomplice, Andrew Stallings, 37, of Rumford.
If Stallings were to post bail, he would be prohibited from having illegal drugs or dangerous weapons, including firearms, for which he could be searched. He must have no contact with the victim’s parents nor any witnesses, including his co-defendant, Zollarcoffer, the judge said.
Stallings is charged with felony murder, burglary and two counts of robbery. Each count is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Andrew Stallings of Rumford appears Tuesday Friday in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn in connection with the October killing of a Lewiston man. screenshot from video
Maine State Police Detective Marcus Reny testified Tuesday that witnesses told investigators that Zollarcoffer showed up Oct. 19 at the River Street apartment of Nicholas Blake and the two of them left the apartment together. They later returned to the apartment, Zollarcoffer forcing a falling Blake through the doorway, pointing a gun at him, an eyewitness told investigators.
Stallings entered the apartment behind Zollarcoffer, according to that witness, who was in a relationship with Blake and knew Stallings as Zollarcoffer’s cousin, said Reny, who authored an affidavit in support of Zollarcoffer’s arrest and who was quizzed about details from it Tuesday.
Zollarcoffer told Stallings to take the witness’ cellphone from her, which he did, she told investigators, according to Reny’s affidavit.
When she tried to leave the apartment, Stallings pulled at her sweatshirt, tearing it, she told investigators.
She was able to escape and run down to the street, Stallings following her, she told investigators.
The eyewitness ran to a white van occupied by a woman and tried to enter the passenger side door, according to the affidavit.
A large man got out of a gold minivan parked nearby and stood at the driver’s window, pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the woman behind the wheel. He told the driver to get out of the van and took her cellphone, according to the affidavit.
That woman later walked to her boyfriend’s apartment and called 911, according to the affidavit.
Meanwhile, Stallings had called to the man with the shotgun and told him words to the effect of “We gotta get out of here” and “We have to stop her from leaving,” the eyewitness told investigators, according to the affidavit.
She said she heard gunshots from the building while she was at the white van, according to Reny’s affidavit.
Zollarcoffer, who also lived on River Street, and Blake had known each other before Oct. 19, investigators said.
Other witnesses said Blake had sold narcotics from his apartment and kept cash above the kitchen sink.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Maine determined the cause of Blake’s death was loss of blood due to gunshots, according to the affidavit.
A neighbor told investigators that she heard arguing coming from Blake’s apartment and later heard two gunshots. She could see what happened outside her apartment by a video surveillance system, she told investigators. She saw a man she didn’t know run from the apartment and up River Street toward Lincoln Street, she said.
Another witness told investigators he heard two men arguing, then heard a pop sound, followed by screaming, then another pop, investigators reported.
Jesse James Ian Archer, Stallings’ attorney, cross-examined Reny, pointing to an interview conducted with the neighbor’s husband, who said he didn’t see Blake return to his apartment after he left.
But Blake’s deceased body was found in his apartment, Reny later confirmed.
The same witness said he saw a bald tanned man, who wasn’t black, fleeing from the apartment, Archer read from documents he said were shared by prosecutors.
Archer also noted statements given by Blake’s girlfriend to investigators that she thought the scene at the apartment with Zollarcoffer and Stallings was “just a joke” after she noticed Stallings there.
Deputy District Attorney Katherine Bozeman, who questioned Reny on Tuesday, asked him about statements given by two inmates at Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, who both said Zollarcoffer had admitted to having killed Blake. One of the inmates also told investigators that Stallings had put himself in the apartment the evening of Oct. 19, corroborating the eyewitness’ statement.
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