Windham man pleads not guilty in deadly Morrills Corner attack

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 for his arraignment in Cumberland County Superior Court wearing a black turtleneck and a long black coat. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, Class A and Class B felonies.

Sidre posted $10,000 cash bail and is no longer in custody, Superior Court Judge John O’Neill Jr. said at the hearing. 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 in the July 20 slaying of Susan McHugh, 54, of Gray. Karp has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail 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 brawl in a Morrill’s Corner parking lot that involved 2-pound mini-sledgehammers, a police-style baton and blades.

Portland Police Detective Jeffrey Tully said he saw surveillance footage of Karp firing nine shots at McHugh 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.

Sidre was ordered to have no contact with Karp, the victims and the other suspects, who have been 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 all posted $10,000 bond and are scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 12.

Police are still trying to find a sixth man, Christopher Hacken, 45, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, who they say 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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