Windham man suspected in deadly Morrill’s Corner shooting pleads not guilty

December 5. A Windham man accused in a fatal shooting on Forest Avenue this summer has pleaded not guilty.

Caleb Sidre, 22, of Windham, appeared Thursday morning to be arraigned in Cumberland County Superior Court. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, Class A and Class B felonies.

Superior Court Judge John O’Neill Jr. said at the hearing that Sidre posted $10,000 cash bail and is no longer in custody. He currently does not have a lawyer, and was represented by Corey Stone, a lawyer at the time

He is one of five men arrested in November, months after Aaron Karp, 47, of Naples, was arrested and charged with the murder of Susan McHugh, 54, of Gray. Karp pleaded not guilty and is being held in the Cumberland County Jail.

Details of the shooting became known at Karp’s bail hearing in September. Prosecutors say it stemmed from a dispute between two motorcycle clubs in the backyard of a Westbrook bar and escalated into a fight in a Morrill’s Corner parking lot involving two-pound mini-sledgehammers, a police-style baton and a blade.

Portland Police Detective Jeffrey Tully said he saw Karp fire nine shots at McHugh on surveillance footage after she fired her husband’s gun at a group of people associated with the Outlaws. Prosecutors say the group targeted the McHugh family and their friends, who are members of another FSU motorcycle club.

At Thursday’s hearing, O’Neill said Sidre is accused of conspiring with Karp to bring a dangerous weapon into the parking lot and seriously injure the man, McHugh Troy, and their friend, William Holmes. Both men were taken to hospital with skull fractures.

Cidre was ordered to have no contact with Karp, the victims and the other suspects charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit assault, including: Jason Keenan, 45, of Bath; James Moody, 30, of Bowdoin; Caleb Pelkey, 33, of Portland; and Nathan Walsh, 48, of Lewiston. They will appear in court on December 12.

Police are still trying to find a sixth man, Christopher Hacken, 45, of Londonberry, New Hampshire, who they believe is “dangerous and may be armed” and may be associated with the Outlaws motorcycle club.

While it’s unclear how the other suspects are connected to the shooting, at least some of them were among the men fighting in the parking lot.

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