Dylan Ketcham appears Monday via a video link with his court-appointed lawyer, David Paris, at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta. Ketcham is being held on an elevated aggravated assault charge in connection with the shooting and stabbing of two men Saturday in Gardiner.
AUGUSTA — The Gardiner man who allegedly shot one man and stabbed another made his initial court appearance Monday on a charge of elevated aggravated assault, and authorities said he could be facing a murder charge because the second victim in the incident may not survive.
Dylan Ketcham, 21, of Gardiner was arrested early Saturday in connection to a reported stabbing of one man and shooting of another after one of the men came to the door of a Lincoln Avenue home looking for help.
Dylan Ketcham Kennebec County Correctional Facility
On Monday, in a criminal complaint filed by Maine State Police Detective Sarah Ferland, police charged Ketcham with the Class A felony of elevated aggravated assault, for allegedly attacking Caleb Trudeau, 21, with a knife
The complaint filed by Ferland states Ketcham “did intentionally or knowingly cause serious bodily injury to Caleb Trudeau, with the use of a dangerous weapon, namely, a knife.”
Assistant Attorney General Meg Elam said in court Monday state prosecutors expect to file a murder charge against Ketcham, if the other victim dies. Officials have not yet released that victim’s name.
“It’s likely he’ll face an additional charge,” Elam said of Ketcham. “The other person he shot is being kept alive by artificial means.”
Ketcham is being held at the Kennebec County jail in Augusta on $150,000 bail.
Ketcham’s court-appointed lawyer, David Paris, argued to have his client’s bail reduced to $25,000 cash or $50,000 in property.
He said Ketcham has only been charged with elevated aggravated assault, not murder, so the court should only deal with that charge because it is the only charge for which probable cause has been determined.
Dylan Ketcham, right, talks to Maine State Police detectives Saturday near the scene on Lincoln Avenue in Gardiner where one man was discovered shot and another stabbed shortly after 1 a.m. Ketcham was later arrested and charged with elevated aggravated assault. Kennebec Journal photo by Andy Molloy
Paris said Ketcham lives with his parents in Gardiner and does not have stable employment, but is not a flight risk so bail should have been reduced.
Justice William Stokes declined to reduce Ketcham’s bail, keeping it at $150,000 cash, with conditions he not possess or use alcohol or illegal drugs, not possess dangerous weapons and have no contact with the victims or named witnesses in the case.
Stokes said because more-serious charges may be coming, including a possible murder charge, he was concerned Ketcham would have greater incentive to flee so bail should be kept high.
Police and the Maine Attorney General’s Office have declined to release the identity of the shooting victim in the Gardiner incident, and an affidavit describing the incident has been impounded by authorities, according to Marc Malone, a spokesman for Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey.
Malone said the office could not provide an update on the conditions of the victims because the affidavit had been impounded.
On Sunday, authorities described the condition of both victims, who were hospitalized following the incident, as severe.
The two men were found at about 1 a.m. Saturday outside a house in the quiet, residential neighborhood at the southern end of Lincoln Avenue after one of them had sought help .
Gardiner police and emergency services were sent to the house, where they found one man shot and a second man stabbed.
Both men were taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, then flown by LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where they underwent emergency surgery.
Ketcham was tracked by a Maine State Police dog to an abandoned building about a half-mile from where the injured men were found, not far from Quimby Field.
Maine State Police detectives were at the scene of the attack Saturday and gave a briefing to Elam, including evidence of a blood trail in the snow.
Ketcham, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and 220 pounds, towered over Paris at his initial court appearance, which he made via video from Kennebec County jail. Ketcham wore a green jail uniform and his left hand was wrapped in a large white bandage.
He answered, “Yes, your honor,” when Stokes asked if he understood the charge against him, but said little else during his brief court session.
Elevated aggravated assault is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. A murder charge would be punishable by up to life in prison.
Evidence of a confrontation was visible at the scene Saturday afternoon. A trail of blood led from behind 156 Lincoln Ave., a house in a residential neighborhood, up to the front door. Police were at the house, and sand had been spread over the bloody snow.
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