CUSHING — Two people have been arrested following an investigation into the suspected drug overdose death of a Cushing fisherman.

Karl Crute Jr., 43, and Ranae Robbins, 45, both of Cushing, were arrested Tuesday and charged with Class B trafficking in heroin. Their arrests followed the death of 52-year-old Christopher Delano.

Crute and Robbins remained at Knox County Jail in Rockland on Wednesday. Crute made his initial court appearance Wednesday in Knox County Unified Court where Judge Susan Sparaco ordered him held pending a Jan. 19 hearing. Robbins’ initial appearance has not yet been scheduled.

Knox County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Tim Carroll said the investigation is continuing and that will determine whether additional charges will be filed.

The Sheriff’s Office was called to Delano’s residence by his fishing boat sternman at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15. The sternman found Delano dead on the ground at the residence, according an affidavit filed in court by the Sheriff’s Office.

Police found a packet of heroin in Delano’s wallet. His son told investigators he did not know his father was using heroin but was aware that he had been in a lot of pain for an unspecified reason and said his father’s physician was not prescribing enough of a prescription painkiller.

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While police say they suspect Delano died of a heroin overdose, the formal cause will not be known until after an autopsy by the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office.

Investigators found Delano’s cellphone under his body and discovered text messages between the victim and Robbins. In one of the messages sent Tuesday, he asked her to bring some “brown” with her. Brown is a term used to refer to heroin, according to the affidavit.

Delano’s car was not at his residence but was later found at Robbins’s residence, according to police. Police got a search warrant and went to Robbins’s home. Robbins was there as was Crute, who was hiding in a closet and resisted arrest, according to the affidavit.

Both Crute and Robbins admitted selling heroin but neither admitted providing it to Delano on Tuesday, according to police.

Police seized five grams of heroin, $1,000 in cash believed to be related to proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs, a loaded semi-automatic rifle, three handguns and other drug paraphernalia.

The affidavit also included a statement from an unidentified person who had contacted police Sunday, concerned about Delano’s health and saying he had been using heroin and cocaine.

The death occurred a day after Maine Attorney General Janet Mills announced that 286 people in Maine had died from drug overdoses through September this year. That exceeds the 272 deaths for all of 2015.

“One person a day is dying from a drug overdose in Maine,” Mills said in a news release. “I cannot stress how dangerous these drugs are.”


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