Dylan Ketcham made his initial appearance Wednesday with his attorney, David Paris, at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta where he was charged with murder in the death of 22-year-old Jordan Johnson. Johnson died Tuesday at Maine Medical Center, Maine State Police said, after an altercation in Gardiner on Saturday. Ketcham is also facing charges of elevated aggravated assault for the alleged stabbing of another man during the incident that occurred on Lincoln Avenue.
GARDINER — Maine State Police say the man who was shot over the weekend in Gardiner died Tuesday, and the man arrested in connection to that incident has been charged with murder.
Jordan Johnson, 22 of Gardiner, died Tuesday while being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to Maine State Police spokesperson Steve McCausland. McCausland said in a press release that Dylan Ketcham, 21 of Gardiner, was charged with murder in connection with Johnson’s death.
Johnson died of a gunshot wound to the head, state Medical Examiner Dr. Mark Flomenbaum determined in an autopsy Wednesday.
Dylan Ketcham made his initial appearance Wednesday with is attorney, David Paris, at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta where he was charged with murder in the death of 22-year-old Jordan Johnson. Johnson died Tuesday at Maine Medical Center, Maine State Police said, after suffering injuries Saturday during an altercation in Gardiner. Ketcham is also facing charges of elevated aggravated assault for the alleged stabbing of another man during the incident that occurred on Lincoln Avenue.
Ketcham, while being interviewed by police following the incident, admitted to shooting at Johnson, and stabbing and slicing the other victim, Caleb Trudeau, in “self-defense,” according to an affidavit filed in court by Maine State Police Detective Sarah Ferland. Ferland wrote that Ketcham “later admitted he went too far.”
Ketcham 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.
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 Trudeau, 21 of Gardiner, had sought help. Gardiner police and emergency services were sent to the house, where they found Johnson who had been shot and Trudeau who had been cut.
Trudeau’s wrists were severed through the bone, and hospital personnel told his family members he is likely to lose both hands as a result of the injuries, according to the affidavit. He also suffered several lacerations, including to his shoulder, clavicle and arms.
Police found Johnson face down in the snow, unconscious, and with an apparent gunshot wound in the back of his head. He was taken to Maine Medical Center, where he died Tuesday.
Ketcham made his initial court appearance Wednesday on the murder charge. He did not enter a plea and did not address the court, speaking only to his attorney, David Paris.
Ferland, who interviewed Ketcham on Saturday morning at the Gardiner Police Department, said in her affidavit he told her Trudeau was his best friend from kindergarten and Johnson owed him money for a stereo speaker. He initially told her he had planned to meet Johnson to get his money the night of the incident, and he had a hunch Trudeau and Johnson were going to “ambush him.” They agreed to meet at Quimby Field. Ketcham later admitted to her, however, he didn’t want the money he claimed was owed to him, that he wasn’t scared of Johnson and he knew a confrontation was going to take place.
Ketcham told police he saw Johnson and Trudeau on Lincoln Avenue and they chased him up the road, overtaking him and punching him in the arm and face. The affidavit says he initially didn’t want to talk about what happened next, but eventually admitted to shooting at Johnson and stabbing and slicing Trudeau.
Ketcham told police he carried the gun he used, a small black pistol, in his pocket and he had obtained it by stealing it from his sister a couple of days prior. Police located a small pistol in the snow near where the shooting took place.
On Monday, in a criminal complaint filed by Ferland, police charged Ketcham with the Class A felony of elevated aggravated assault, for allegedly attacking Trudeau with a knife. He appeared in court on that charge Monday.
Ferland said Ketcham described the knife as a Bowie knife, with pink and red cord wrapped around the handle. He told her he carried the knife in a holster inside his coat. Ferland said police collected a long, serrated knife, with multicolored cord on its handle, from a trash container alongside the path where a police dog had tracked Ketcham from the crime scene.
Justice Michaela Murphy ordered Ketcham held without bail Wednesday.
Paris agreed Ketcham could be held without bail for now but reserved the right to seek a hearing to review bail for his client.
Murphy also ordered that Ketcham undergo an evaluation by the State Forensic Service to evaluate his mental competency to proceed in the court system.
She said his case will likely go to a grand jury for consideration in March.
Both men, after the incident, 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 a barn on River Road about a half-mile from where the injured men were found, not far from Quimby Field.
Jared Trudeau, Caleb’s brother, told the Kennebec Journal on Wednesday that his brother was currently in Boston receiving medical attention. Jared Trudeau said Caleb Trudeau was “in rough shape” with a long way to recover.
“Barring no complications or setbacks he will live,” Jared Trudeau said in a Facebook message. “He’ll have a much different quality of life.”
Jared and Caleb Trudeau’s father Derek, and his wife Stephanie, were killed in a car accident in November 2019. The man driving the vehicle that struck their vehicle, Shawn Metayer, was indicted Jan. 23 on charges on two counts of manslaughter and criminal aggravated operating under the influence.
The shooting and stabbing incident was first reported to police by a Lincoln Avenue resident who called 911 to report she’d heard a loud pop outside she believed to be a gunshot.
Other Lincoln Avenue residents reported hearing loud noises and screams for help outside their home. One resident told police he saw a man standing over and striking another man who was laying in the road, and that he saw the man delivering the blows leave the scene by walking between neighbors’ houses.
A police dog followed the path the man had taken and police found snow pants, a coat and boots discarded along the way. Ketcham later told police he took off his clothing and boots because they were slowing him down.
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