AUBURN — A judge on Monday ordered a Lewiston man held without bail until trial after concluding there was enough evidence to charge him with two murders at a Poland home last year.

After reviewing a police affidavit detailing witness statements as well as physical evidence gathered by law enforcement, Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Jennifer Archer said she found probable cause to support the two charges of intentional or knowing murder against 47-year-old Aaron Aldrich.

He was indicted by a grand jury in April 2023 in the fatal shootings of Shoeb Mohamed Adan, 21, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Mohamed Aden, 16, of Lewiston.

The two victims were found Feb. 21, 2023, by Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were dispatched to a mobile home at 205 Tripp Road in Poland for a welfare check.

Aldrich’s lead defense attorney, Thomas Carey, sought to question a witness in the case, Aldrich’s former girlfriend, who had been interviewed by police shortly after the victims were found.

According to a police affidavit, Brandi Frost, 34, of Lewiston told investigators that Aldrich had given her a bag of bloody clothing and a gun to dispose of after the slayings.

Frost appeared Monday in court, but her attorney advised the judge that his client planned to invoke her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

After conferring in judge’s chambers with attorneys from both sides, Justice Archer concluded there was no reason for Frost to take the witness stand.

Archer said there had been three areas in which Carey had planned to question Frost under oath, including her interviews with detectives.

Frost was expected to invoke the Fifth Amendment when questioned in all of those categories, Archer said.

Because Archer found probable cause to support the murder charges, Aldrich was not entitled to bail.

Archer could have allowed Aldrich bail at her discretion unless prosecutors could show that Aldrich might not show up in court or that he posed a danger to someone else or to the community or that he was likely to commit another crime if released.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue told the judge that Aldrich was prohibited from having a gun at the time of the alleged shooting, had been free on bail and that he’d had outstanding warrants for his arrest.

In Androscoggin County, Aldrich was facing four criminal matters, including escape, but all of them charging violation of conditions of release from jail, she said.

Bogue said Aldrich was facing eight criminal matters in Cumberland County, including assault on a police officer.

Carey countered that most of Aldrich’s criminal record showed nonviolent offenses.

“From Day One, Mr. Aldrich has asserted his innocence,” in the shooting, Carey said.

Carey said Aldrich never made any confession to authorities and that the witnesses who pointed a finger at him were unreliable.

The defense is investigating alternative suspects in the Poland shootings, Carey said.

Aldrich’s incarceration limited his ability to assist with his defense, Carey said.

Carey proposed bail be set at $500 cash.

Archer denied Aldrich bail.

She said she planned to set hearings later this month for motions that include Aldrich’s argument that the trial be moved out of Androscoggin County.

The trial is tentatively scheduled for September.

Officers discovered the body of Aden on the living room floor and Adan’s body on the floor of a different room, according to a nine-page affidavit written by a Maine State Police Detective.

Aden appeared to have been shot in the arm, back and chest. Spent shell casings from what appeared to have been a 9 mm gun were found near the body; casings that appeared to be the same caliber were found near Adan’s body.

A medical examiner would later rule the two victims died from gunshot wounds.

Frost told police she’d broken up with Aldrich on Feb. 21, 2023.

She said he had left her home on Feb. 20, 2023, at roughly 10 p.m. and hadn’t returned until midnight Feb. 21, “acting paranoid and looking out the windows” and appeared to have blood on one of his shoes and a cut on his wrist, according to the affidavit.

Aldrich had sold an electric generator that was owned by Frost to the two victims on Feb. 19, the affidavit said.

The victims complained it didn’t work. When Aldrich went to the Poland home to confront the victims about it, one of them had a gun and Aldrich shot him, fearing he would be shot, he reportedly told a witness, claiming self-defense, the affidavit said.

Aldrich reportedly shot the second victim because he “couldn’t leave him,” a witness told police.

Aldrich had told the witness that the victims had planned to hire him to “take somebody out,” according to the affidavit.

But, when Aldrich learned the proposed target was a woman with a baby, he apparently refused, the witness told police.

He was later captured in New Hampshire.

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