One of many two males who have been murdered and located useless in a wooded space subsequent to a Salem Walmart Wednesday afternoon has been recognized as 41-year-old Andrew Ross Guempel, whose final recognized deal with was in Arizona, the Essex County District Legal professional’s Workplace introduced Saturday.
Authorities are nonetheless ready to launch the identify of the opposite man who was killed, as his subsequent of kin has not but been notified of his demise, the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned.
Salem police discovered the our bodies of the 2 males after they have been known as to 450 Highland Ave. shortly after 2:20 p.m. on April 23, the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned beforehand. A person strolling his canine found one of many our bodies and notified authorities.
Police arrested 30-year-old Jay Blodget in reference to the killings inside a day of discovering the our bodies, the district legal professional’s workplace mentioned. He’s charged with two counts of homicide and pleaded not responsible to the costs throughout his arraignment in Salem District Courtroom on Thursday.
Jay Blodget, 30, appeared in Salem District Courtroom for his arraignment on two homicide prices on April 24.(POOL CAM/Boston 25)
A decide held Blodget with out bail throughout the arraignment. Courtroom filings point out he’s homeless and was dwelling within the woods behind the Walmart close to the place the our bodies have been discovered.
In court docket on Thursday, prosecutors mentioned Guempel and the opposite man died of “blunt power trauma” and have been stabbed. Their our bodies have been hidden below dust and different “supplies,” prosecutors mentioned.
Blodget additionally “made statements implicating himself within the two murders” after he was taken into police custody, prosecutors mentioned. He’s believed to have been the one individual concerned within the killings.
Exterior the courthouse on Thursday, Blodget’s legal professional, Michael Phelan, mentioned it was “manner too early” to debate motives or different elements the case. The legal professional plans to “positively discover whether or not there’s psychological well being difficulty,” although there’s been no definitive solutions to date, he mentioned.
A few week earlier than the 2 males’s our bodies have been discovered, Blodget was arrested and charged with breaking and coming into after he broke into right into a storage container close to the Walmart with a hacksaw, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Blodget’s subsequent court docket date is scheduled for Could 28.
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