Police in Maine have called off a search for pyrotechnic devices related to an investigation of a Gardiner man charged with the killing his father.
Leroy Smith III was charged Tuesday with killing and dismembering his father, Leroy Smith Jr., 56, inside an apartment where the men lived. Police in Gardiner and Richmond issued public warnings about improvised pyrotechnic devices after Smith, 24, made a reference to planting them in the woods during a police interview.
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Gardiner Police Chief James Toman said it’s possible the presence of pyrotechnic devices was “a complete hoax” on the younger Smith’s part. He added residents should still be cautious in wooded areas. Police have said Smith indicated he may have placed crude pyrotechnics in the woods to indicate where people were going so he could locate a spot to grow marijuana or camp out undisturbed.
“Looking at everything we have done, the extensive searching, and that his stories have changed along the way, there’s reason to believe this is a complete fabrication on his part,” Toman said.
Smith, who is in custody, is charged with killing his father by stabbing him in the neck and then using three knives to chop up his body before burying him in the woods. An investigator wrote in a police affidavit that the younger Smith said he committed the crime because his father sexually assaulted him throughout his life.
The elder Smith’s nephew, Devin Smith of Augusta, said a funeral has not yet been planned. Devin Smith said friends and family are planning a May 18 benefit in Hallowell to raise money for Smith’s funeral. The event will include live music, one of Smith’s passions, he said.
“He was always in a group or just playing by himself,” Devin Smith said. “He’d always try to find the one person in the crowd who was down and pick them up.”
The younger Smith was ordered Thursday to undergo a mental health evaluation. Leaving court he on Thursday declared himself “the Lord, Father of life” and asked assembled media to follow him on Twitter.
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