AUGUSTA — The man accused of fatally shooting a Readfield man before setting his house afire and fleeing to Massachusetts came into court in tears this morning.

David B. Silva Jr., 32, heard a judge in Kennebec County Superior Court read the charges of murder, arson and robbery that have been filed against him.

Justice Michaela Murphy told him conviction on the murder charge carries a minimum penalty of 25 years to life in prison, and convictions on the other charges carry terms of up to 30 years in prison.

Silva is accused of killing Robert A. Orr, 53, on Feb. 8. Orr’s remains were discovered as investigators sifted through debris of his Church Road home the following day.

Silva was arrested in Carver, Mass., on Thursday and waived extradition. He was in an orange, jail-issued uniform and hand-cuffed, tattoos visible on his fingers and on his neck.

The prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes and the attorney appointed to represent Silva, William Baghdoyan, told the judge they could be prepared for a bail hearing next week.

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About 40 people watched Silva’s brief court appearance, many of them family and friends of Orr.

The family declined to speak afterward. However, they sent a note thanking the communities of Readfield and Winthrop and the firefighters who responded to the blaze that leveled the home.

“Bob touched a lot of people’s hearts,” said Janet Orr, Robert Orr’s widow. “They took my soulmate of 20 years.”

“Bob was Pa to everybody,” said Rick Barisano, Janet Orr’s son.  “No one can believe he’s gone.”

Outside the courthouse, Dolores Werder, first vice commander of American Legion Alfred W. Maxwell Jr. Post 40 in Winthrop, was in tears.

“He was a Son of the Legion,” Werder said, describing the membership category offered to those who are sons of veterans.

She and others at the post saw Orr just hours before he died.

Werder said he left early the evening of Feb. 8 because he wasn’t feeling well.

Investigators say Silva shot Orr, leaving his slumped body in a chair, before fleeing with Lindsay Spence, of Plymouth, Mass. Spence and Silva had been living with Orr for several weeks prior to the slaying. No charges have been filed against Spence.
 


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