Four die in Maine killing spree

NEWRY, Maine — A cook was charged Tuesday with shooting and dismembering the owner of a bed-and-breakfast and two other women after allegedly killing a man in a Labor Day weekend crime spree.

State Police Chief Col. Craig Poulin refused to discuss a motive for what he called the worst homicide case in Maine in 14 years.

Christian Nielsen, 31, told detectives that his four-day rampage began with an Arkansas man on Friday and continued two days later with the slaying of the owner of the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast where he was staying in Newry, according to State Police.

The daughter of the inn's owner was then killed along with a friend when they arrived unexpectedly Monday, authorities said.

The dismembered bodies of the three women were found Monday evening at the white 1830s converted farmhouse in Maine's ski country, about 75 miles northwest of Portland. Nielsen then led detectives to the man's burned remains in the woods about 15 miles away.

"It's a crime of horrific proportions," Poulin said.

The carcasses of three golden retrievers were found inside the inn.

Nielsen, a cook at the Sudbury Inn in nearby Bethel, was charged with four counts of murder and smiled as he left court after being ordered held without bail Tuesday.

Poulin would not say how the victims had been dismembered.

The victims were identified as bed-and-breakfast owner Julie Bullard, 65, who lived at the inn; her daughter Selby, 30; Cindy Beatson, 43, both of Bethel; and James Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark.

Police said Nielsen had been staying at the Black Bear about two months; Whitehurst for about a month.

Nielsen, who grew up in the Farmington area nearby, had a history of driving offenses that included an arrest for drunken driving but nothing more serious, police said.

Bookstore owner Kenny Brechner, 44, said Nielsen's father, Charles Nielsen, is head of the English department at Dirigo High School in Dixfield.

Material from the Portland (Maine) Press Herald is included in this report.