A missing Maine man whose body was found last month had been shot in the back of the head, stuffed in a barrel and dumped in a sand pit, police said Wednesday.
Alex Jackson, 34, was last seen alive May 12, 2023 in Windham, Maine. His body was discovered on April 19, 2024 in Stark, N.H., about 75 miles northwest of where he was last seen.
The suspected killer, 31-year-old Joseph Chute, had a preliminary hearing on Wednesday in which police described the case and what they found upon locating the body.
After killing Jackson, Chute tossed his body on a compost pile on his property, cops said. He then moved Jackson’s body from the compost and jammed it into a barrel, authorities said.
According to police, Chute then asked his girlfriend at the time to help him dispose of the barrel, and the two drove around Maine in an SUV looking for a place to dump it, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
Authorities said the two eventually traveled to a Chute family camp in New Hampshire, where they submerged the barrel in a shallow body of water, according to the Sun Journal.
Investigators recovered limited physical evidence in the case, and police cited witness testimony throughout Wednesday’s preliminary hearing. Chute’s ex-girlfriend was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony, the Sun Journal reported.
According to prosecutors, Chute owed Jackson money for a large piece of construction equipment and killed him instead.
Chute has pleaded not guilty in the case, and his defense attorneys cited the lack of physical evidence in the case. He is being held without bail.
“There’s still a lot of evidence to go through,” lawyer Verne Paradie said after the hearing. “There are many unanswered questions.”
With News Wire Services
