Keith Brunelle, 58, had previously been arrested for a bail violation at the scene of James Smith's Sept. 1 death in the Bay Bridge Estates mobile home community.
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A Brunswick man faces a murder charge in the death of his neighbor, who was found dead at 5 Valerie Ave. early on Sept. 1. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
A Brunswick man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of his neighbor early this month.
Keith Brunelle, 58, was arrested Friday morning in Augusta and charged with killing his neighbor James Smith, Maine State Police announced in a news release Friday.
Police responded to reports of gunshots at 5 Valerie Ave. in Brunswick — located in the Bay Bridge Estates mobile home park — in the early morning hours of Sept. 1 and found Smith, 48, dead on the property.
Brunelle, who lives at the 5 Valerie Ave. home, was arrested that morning on a bail violation and transported to the Cumberland County Jail. He was released after posting bail, and police said that no one had been charged in connection with Smith’s death at that point.
An autopsy by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta later determined Smith had died from a gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide.
Detectives continued investigating and later obtained an arrest warrant for Brunelle on a murder charge. He was taken into custody without incident just before 10:30 a.m. Friday, police said. He also faces a charge of criminal use of explosives, a Class C felony.
Brunelle was transported to the Cumberland County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
The day after Smith’s death, Treyvon McKenzie, who lives on Valerie Avenue, told a reporter that he had been awakened by a loud bang from a neighbor’s home around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 1.
McKenzie recalled hearing police officers yelling, and spotting what he believed to be a body. Then he heard what sounded like two gunshots and more yelling, saw first responders put a sheet over the body, and watched officers escort someone into a police cruiser.
Police records indicate that Brunelle has lived at 5 Valerie Ave. for at least 18 years.
This is the second Brunswick homicide in roughly five months that police say involved two neighbors. In April, Tanner Dostie, 45, was accused of fatally stabbing his neighbor Dennis Blasens, then dismembering the 61-year-old Navy veteran’s body and burning the remains. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this report.
Katie covers Brunswick, Bath and Freeport for the Times Record. She was previously the weekend reporter at the Portland Press Herald and is originally from the Hudson Valley region of upstate New York.... More by Katie Langley
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