AUGUSTA — Leroy Smith III has been indicted on a charge of murder in the stabbing death of his father.

The 24-year-old Gardiner man was indicted on a charge of intentional or knowing or depraved indifference murder. The grand jury in Kennebec County Superior Court handed up the indictment Friday.

Smith has been held without bail at the Kennebec County jail since his May 6 arrest.

An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but it indicates that there is enough evidence to proceed with formal charges and a trial.

Smith is accused of killing his father May 3 in the Gardiner home they shared.

Smith, who was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, told case investigators he killed his father and then “filleted him and buried him in the woods because his dad sexually assaulted him his whole life,” according to an affidavit by Maine State Police Detective Jonah C. O’Roak. There is no record of his father, Leroy Herbert Smith Jr., on a sex offender registry in the U.S.

The affidavit disclosed grim details about the slaying, alleging that Smith killed his father by stabbing him in the jugular. He then dismembered the body and spread the remains among 16 trash bags.

The elder Smith’s remains were found in a wooded area of Richmond.

Smith allegedly has referred to himself as God to Massachusetts and Maine police.

According to a public records search, neither Smith has a criminal convictions in Massachusetts. The father was convicted of driving with a suspended license in Maine in 2008.

Westborough, Massachusetts, Police Chief Alan Gordon has said his department had interaction with the elder Smith in the early 1990s because of reported domestic disputes. Gordon said the elder Smith had no criminal history of sexual assault.

Leroy Smith III was arrested March 5 on a warrant citing a harassment charge in Massachusetts.

Smith was banned from his apartment building in Westborough last fall after he upset other tenants and the landlord, Gordon said. Smith also reportedly set his guitar and amplifier on fire in the backyard because “he believed they were emitting evil music,” Gordon said.

The younger Smith was served with a protection from harassment order on Oct. 29 and violated it on Oct. 30, Gordon said. The town’s court issued a warrant for his arrest when Smith failed to show up for his December court date.

After the initial protection order was issued, the Secret Service contacted police to say they wanted to question Smith about threats he allegedly made against President Barack Obama.

 

Craig Crosby can be contacted at 621-5642 or at:

ccrosby@centralmaine.com