AUGUSTA — The man charged with murdering Tyler Robinson, who was found dead in July on the side of Old Belgrade Road in Augusta, rode up to him on an all-terrain vehicle and shot him after a plan to scare him went wrong, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
Andrew Redmond, 34, of Augusta is accused of killing Robinson, also 34 and of Augusta, the night of July 28.
Redmond made his initial appearance in court Monday after he was brought back to Maine from Mississippi.
Redmond, who appeared by video at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta while wearing a green jail uniform, did not enter a plea Monday. He is being held without bail, pending a hearing in which his bail is to be reviewed. He was represented by Augusta lawyer Steve Smith.
Redmond was arrested Sept. 11 in Mississippi, where Biloxi police took him into custody after a brief chase.
An arrest affidavit and criminal complaint that Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy ordered unsealed Monday revealed that witnesses had told police Redmond and a group of others planned to scare and beat up Robinson when he arrived the night of July 28 at 8 Shovelhead Lane, where Redmond was living in a tent and allegedly selling drugs.
Things went wrong when Robinson fled the property where Redmond, known as “Red,” and others planned to confront him, according to an affidavit filed by Detective Nicholas Gleeson of the Maine State Police.
Two other men chased after Robinson — one shooting toward him, but not hitting him — with a shotgun loaded with nonlethal rubber bullets.
Redmond then allegedly caught up to Robinson on his ATV. A witness said Redmond passed him on the ATV and stopped near Robinson. The witness said he then heard a gunshot.
The witness told police he did not see Redmond shoot Robinson due to the poor lighting, but heard the gunshot from near the ATV. The witness said that when Redmond returned on his ATV, he told the witness, “I shot him.”
Redmond and Robinson were familiar with each other, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Robinson was found near 42 Old Belgrade Road later that night, after a passing driver called 911 to report having seen a man on the side of the road. Robinson reportedly had blood covering his face and head.
Augusta Officer Jonathan Young, the first officer on the scene, performed CPR, but officials found Robinson “was beyond help, with apparent head trauma,” according to the affidavit.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Robinson and deemed his death a homicide. The state’s chief medical examiner discovered a gunshot wound to Robinson’s chest.
Police discovered a home in the neighborhood had several exterior cameras.
The cameras captured three people running from the area of 8 Shovelhead Lane, which Gleeson’s affidavit described as a known drug house, with two men appearing to chase a third man, Robinson, according to the affidavit. One of the pursuing males appeared to have a handgun, and the other a shotgun or rifle.
The man with the long gun could be seen shooting at the fleeing Robinson, according to the affidavit. That male then disappears from the camera’s view.
The affidavit indicates that shot was by an accomplice who had used nonlethal rubber bullets. Police said a nonlethal bullet casing was recovered by police in that area.
About 12 seconds later, according to Gleeson’s affidavit, a person on an ATV drives from the area of 8 Shovelhead Lane, turns onto Old Belgrade Road and appears to pursue Robinson.
Robinson’s girlfriend told police she drove Robinson and another man to 8 Shovelhead Lane, and she was forced out of her Jeep at gunpoint, by Redmond, who told her to go inside the residence. She told police she remained at the residence after the shooting, and Redmond apologized to her several times, stating “he was sorry, it wasn’t supposed to go down like that.”
A witness told police the night of July 28 he and three other men, including Redmond, were gathered around a campfire. When a man who had come with Robinson and his girlfriend arrived, “a code word was given” and the witness grabbed onto the man who had come with Robinson and took him to the ground, while two other men left the campfire and went to the other side of the house to confront Robinson.
The witness said there had been a plan to scare or beat up Robinson, and that Redmond had lured Robinson and another man to the property with the promise of drugs. The witness told police, “The plan stopped working when Robinson fled.”
The affidavit states Gleeson was made aware Aug. 9 of a voicemail that had been left for the colonel of the state police. The man who left the message indicated he was Redmond, and he was calling to notify investigators that at the advice of his legal counsel, he would not be speaking with police.
Redmond was arrested after a coordinated effort between the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit, the Federal Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, the Biloxi Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Redmond was brought to Harrison County Adult Detention Center in Gulfport, Mississippi.
In court Monday, Redmond said he understood and answered “Yes, your honor,” when Murphy told him the charge against him — intentional and knowing murder — carries a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison, and he could be incarcerated for the rest of his life.
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