A man serving a 43-year sentence for killing a man in Readfield has died in a state prison in New Jersey, where state officials are investigating his death.

David Silva sits in a bail proceeding in Kennebec County Superior Court in 2011. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

David Silva, 46, died after an encounter with corrections officers at Northern State Prison in Newark, according to a statement from New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General.

Silva pleaded guilty in Kennebec County more than 10 years ago to murder, robbery and arson charges in the 2011 death of Robert Orr, who was letting Silva and his girlfriend live in his home.

Silva entered an Alford plea, meaning he recognized the state could prove its case but did not admit guilt. His earliest release date was Oct. 30, 2048, according to the Maine Department of Corrections’ website.

The state said Silva shot Orr in the head with one of his own guns after renting a room in the man’s home for several weeks. Silva then set fire to the home as a cover-up.

The New Jersey attorney general’s office is not identifying the officers involved. A spokesperson said their investigation is still in its early states and did not answer questions seeking more information on the Dec. 3 “encounter” and cause of Silva’s death.

Robert “Bobby” Orr Photo courtesy of Orr family

Silva was pronounced dead at a hospital on Thursday, according to the statement.

It’s unclear why Silva was being held in New Jersey. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Corrections said they couldn’t provide information related to Silva’s transfer under confidentiality laws.

An online database for New Jersey’s Department of Corrections says he’s been there since 2015.

At his sentencing in 2013, Silva also pleaded guilty to several charges from his time in the Kennebec County Jail. An assistant district attorney said at the time that Silva had head-butted one corrections officer and threatened to kill another who was preparing to clean his cell.

MDOC is allowed under Maine law to transfer people in their custody to other state’s prisons through an “interstate compact provision.” Maine law requires that other states regularly share updates with MDOC on the Maine prisoners they receive, and that they treat the people they receive “in a reasonable and humane manner.”

The department has sent 24 people in their custody to another jurisdiction outside of the state, according to MDOC. That could also include prisoners who have been transferred to federal prisons under a different Maine law. (In that case, MDOC has to request a transfer through the federal Bureau of Prisons.)