DOVER, N.H. — There is a warrant out for the arrest of a Maine man facing bigamy charges after he missed a court date in New Hampshire on Thursday.
Michael Middleton, 43, whose last known address was Old Orchard Beach, was indicted by a New Hampshire grand jury last month on a bigamy charge. He has been accused of knowingly marrying a woman in New Hampshire while being married to women in Georgia and Alabama.
Middleton was scheduled to appear for an arraignment at Strafford County Superior Court in Dover on Thursday.
Middleton never showed up, according to the court clerk’s office, and an arrest warrant has been issued for him.
According to a police investigation, Middleton was already married to Katherine Lashley of Georgia and Kassandra Shipley of Alabama when he married Alicia Grant of Dover in 2013. Investigators believe that there may be even more marriages in other locations not yet discovered.
Grant and Middleton moved to South Berwick, Maine, in 2014 and Middleton was arrested on a charge of domestic violence there that same year.
Grant, who now lives in Exeter, New Hampshire, told WMTW-TV that Middleton made her feel like he cared about her, but eventually scammed her out of $20,000.
Grant said she had no idea Middleton had other wives when she married him.
The three wives eventually found out about one another, and Grant has been trying to track down Middleton for years to have their marriage annulled.
In New Hampshire, bigamy is a Class B felony, with a penalty of 3½ to seven years in prison. A person convicted of a Class B felony could also receive a fine of up to $4,000 and up to five years’ probation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 780-9015 or at:
egotthelf@journaltribune.com
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