SKOWHEGAN – Robert Nelson was high on drugs the day Everett L. Cameron was murdered, friends and family testified Wednesday.
It was the third day of Nelson’s trial in Somerset County Superior Court on charges he shot Cameron to death in Anson on Oct. 31, 2009.
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Witnesses Wednesday testified that Nelson had a drug problem that escalated that day at a birthday party for Nelson’s 4-year-old daughter.
“Up until that point he had kept it a secret that he was using drugs,” said Allison MacMillon, Nelson’s ex-girlfriend and his daughter’s mother. “He wouldn’t use them around his family. I hadn’t seen him like that before. He was clearly not acting like a sober person.”
She said she noticed when he arrived at the party that he was on drugs and spoke to him outside. He was falling asleep standing up and half of a white pill fell out of his pocket during their conversation, she said.
Ellen Howell, Nelson’s aunt, testified she spoke with him that day about getting into a drug rehab program after seeing him play roughly with his daughter.
She said he was not belligerent or argumentative, but he appeared to be tired and didn’t have control over his body. “He was obviously under the influence of drugs,” she said.
A family friend, Amanda Shaw, said she and her boyfriend left the party early because they were uncomfortable with Nelson’s behavior.
Nelson spent most of the day and the evening before with his then-girlfriend Katie White.
White, 21, testified Wednesday that she knew Cameron supplied Nelson with oxycodone pills. They met three or four times a month on Town Farm Road in Anson, the road where Cameron was found dead from a gunshot wound in his pickup truck.
On the day of the murder, White said, Nelson left around 2 p.m. for the party. White said he came back to the house about 15 minutes later and told her he met with Cameron and paid him money he owed.
Police estimate that Cameron was killed sometime between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., when his body was found.
Nelson washed his face and changed his shirt before leaving again, White said.
White said that Nelson seemed fine when he left the house, although he was “screwed up on drugs” when he returned home later that evening.
Lynn Ledger, Nelson’s current girlfriend, testified he left the party with her that day. She followed him to a parking lot, where she watched him snort two lines of crushed white powder. She said she later followed him home because she was concerned about him driving. She also dated Nelson a few years before, and said it ended because of his drug problem.
The trial resumes at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Morning Sentinel Staff Writer Rachel Ohm can be contacted at 612-2368 or at:
rohm@mainetoday.com
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