A man in custody at the Maine State Prison in Warren has been charged in the 2011 death of a South Portland man.
Portland Police detectives served Abdi Awad with an arrest warrant Aug. 6, charging him with the Aug. 1, 2011, death of Allen MacLean, 41. MacLean was fatally shot near the intersection of Congress Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Portland.
“I want to thank the officers and detectives involved in the initial response and the ongoing investigation,” said Chief Frank Clark. “I hope their perseverance, and this arrest, on the 10th anniversary of Allen’s death, will help bring some degree of closure to his family and friends.”
Over the last year, Portland Police investigators have also cleared two other former cold cases. In October, Aristotle Stilley was arrested in California after being indicted in Maine for the 2016 murder of David Anderson, and in April, Zachary Phach and Khang Tran were indicted and charged with murder, aggravated attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and conspiracy for the 2012 death of Matthew Blanchard.
There are still a dozen homicides that remain unsolved in Portland. To help make progress in those cases, Clark said a detective has been assigned to review and coordinate the investigation into these homicide cases.
“This detective will work with the case investigators to help evaluate witness statements and assess whether evidence in each of the cases can be further examined using newer forensic capabilities or other technologies,” Clark said. “For those who have committed such a heinous crime here in our city, it may be just a matter of time before we’re knocking on your door.”
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