Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Girlfriend says shooting victim was threatened

She says the menacing came in the days before Serge Mulongo was killed. The two suspects plead not guilty.

By Trevor Maxwell tmaxwell@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — The girlfriend of a man who was gunned down in the city's Parkside neighborhood last month told police that Serge Mulongo was threatened three times in the week before his death.

Moses Okot, left, and Daudoit Butsitsi

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The woman, a 19-year-old Portland High School student, did not witness the threats. But she told Detective Maryann Bailey that Mulongo, 24, talked with her about threats made by "Cooly and Mo."

"Cooly" is the nickname of Daudoit Butsitsi, and "Mo" is short for Moses Okot, Bailey said during a hearing Wednesday in Cumberland County Superior Court. Butsitsi and Okot have been arrested and charged in the killing.

"She didn't take the threats very seriously, and neither did he. They just didn't worry about it," Bailey said. She said Mulongo's girlfriend later felt bad for taking the threats lightly.

Mulongo was shot six times at close range while leaving an apartment building at the corner of Park Avenue and Weymouth Street around 11:14 p.m. on Feb. 10.

Police say Butsitsi and Okot acted together to carry out the crime. Butsitsi, 24, allegedly shot Mulongo. He is charged with murder, a crime that is punishable in Maine by a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Okot, 21, is the alleged accomplice. Police say he provided the latex gloves that Butsitsi used, and drove the getaway car after the shooting. Okot faces a lesser charge of felony murder. That crime carries a maximum penalty of 30 years.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

After the pleas, Justice Robert Crowley presided over a bail hearing for Okot. His court-appointed lawyer, Peter Cyr, seeks to have Okot released on bail pending the resolution of the case. The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, argues that Okot should continue to be held without bail.

Bailey and Portland Detective Rich Vogel testified during the hearing. They outlined the events leading up to the shooting and the investigation since then, including the claims by Mulongo's girlfriend. Two people saw Mulongo and Butsitsi in a physical altercation earlier in the day on which Mulongo was shot.

Key evidence gathered by police includes statements by a man who says he saw the shooting and has identified Butsitsi as the gunman. The same witness says he ran from the apartment building and saw Okot apparently waiting on Grant Street in Butsitsi's car.

Based on information provided by the witness, police found a handgun and latex gloves near the scene of the crime. Crime lab analysts say they found Butsitsi's DNA, as well as an unidentified mixture of DNA, on the gloves. Test results from the gun have not yet been returned, Vogel said.

Justice Crowley suspended the bail hearing for Okot at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the end of the court's business day. The hearing is scheduled to resume March 29. A bail hearing for Butsitsi might also be held on that day.

Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:

tmaxwell@pressherald.com