Suspect in Maine kidnapping, robbery captured

RUMFORD, Maine (AP) - A Maine man expected to testify in the death of a New Hampshire inmate has been charged with robbery, kidnapping and assault.

Randall Chapman, 37, was arrested by Maine State Police in Gray on Wednesday after being on the run since May 19.

Chapman is charged with slashing a kidnapped victim’s face during a robbery. Police said Chapman used a woman to lure the victim to an apartment where he was robbed and forced to drive to an ATM to withdraw money.

On the way to the ATM, the victim saw police cruisers in a parking lot, pulled in and sounded his horn to alert the officers, police said. Chapman bolted. While he was on the run, police warned that he should be considered dangerous.

Chapman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault, the Sun Journal (https://bit.ly/1oNfQKd ) reported. He was held on $50,000 bail. It was not clear if Chapman had a lawyer.

Chapman is supposed to testify in the July trial of William Edic, who is charged with helping kill inmate Anthony Renzzulla in July 2010 at the New Hampshire State Prison. Edic and Thomas Milton, who were both inmates at the prison in Concord, are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Renzzulla, who was beaten and suffered head injuries. He died of his injuries 16 months later.

Chapman, also an inmate at the time, admitted mopping up Renzzulla’s blood after the attack.

The Concord Monitor has reported that Chapman was paroled to Maine in 2012 after a prison gang to which he once belonged ordered his killing.

Jeffery Strelzin, senior assistant attorney general in New Hampshire, would not disclose the state’s expected witnesses in Edic’s trial but said there are methods to bring witnesses in from other states if needed.

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Information from: Sun-Journal, https://www.sunjournal.com