Police have charged a Lewiston man with murder in connection with the disappearance of Christiana Fesmire, 22, missing since July 1.
Working with the Attorney General’s Office, State and Lewiston Police arrested Buddy Robinson, 30, at his girlfriend’s home on Gloucester Road in New Gloucester around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 13.
Robinson made a brief appearance in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Lewiston Oct. 14. He did not enter a plea. Robinson is being held at the Androscoggin County Jail without bail until his arraignment, scheduled for Nov. 10.
In August, Fesmire’s mother, Deborah Fesmire, told The Lincoln County News that she and Christiana’s father, Chester Fesmire, last saw their daughter in June when she spent two nights at the family’s home in Bremen. Chester Fesmire drove Christiana back to Lewiston during the early afternoon, June 30.
A family member at the Fesmire’s residence declined comment for this article.
According to an affidavit filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court, police allege Robinson drowned Fesmire in a bathtub July 1 and subsequently disposed of her body in “a swampy area” after carrying it more than two miles off a paved road.
Her body has not been recovered as of press time.
The 18-page affidavit describes the police investigation in some detail.
According to the affidavit, at one time Robinson and Fesmire were both residents of a two-unit apartment house on Highland Avenue in Lewiston. Fesmire occupied a downstairs apartment. Robinson lived upstairs, with his sister, Brandi Robinson, Brandi’s boyfriend and her 8-year-old son.
Police searched the residence Sept. 13, according to the affidavit. Evidence found at the scene led investigators to conclude Fesmire was killed inside the building.
According to both the affidavit and Deborah Fesmire, friends in Lewiston last saw Fesmire on July 1. By that time Fesmire had left the Highland Avenue duplex and was living with friends, identified in the affidavit as Jacinta Labbe and Brock Poulin, at their residence on Brown Street in Lewiston.
Labbe contacted Lewiston police July 11 to express concern about Fesmire’s disappearance. Labbe told police the last time she saw Fesmire, Fesmire was waiting for a ride to a family function. According to the affidavit, Labbe told police Fesmire was gone when Labbe arrived home from work around 5:30 p.m. July 1.
Labbe told police she expected to see Fesmire again around July 4, but had not and phone messages were going straight to voicemail.
According to the affidavit, after several interviews over the course of two months on Oct. 13, Brandi Robinson voluntarily met with Lewiston police and allegedly said Buddy Robinson told her he drowned Fesmire in a bathtub after arguing with her July 1.
According to the affidavit, “at a later date Buddy Robinson told her (Brandi) that he was upstairs alone on the second floor and Fesmire was downstairs speaking to her mother on the telephone. Fesmire came upstairs and asked him a question about the mail. Buddy Robinson stated that Fesmire was told that the mail was on the refrigerator.
“Fesmire advised to Buddy Robinson, ‘That’s weird.’ Buddy Robinson told Brandi Robinson that he hated Fesmire when she said that and an argument took place. The argument moved to the first floor apartment where he struck Fesmire’s head on the bathroom tub.”
In previous interviews with police, according to the affidavit, Brandi Robinson allegedly claimed she did not know where Fesmire was; that Fesmire was in a downward spiral after the suicide of a boyfriend and that “she thought Fesmire purposefully left the area and was fine as she had disappeared before.”
On Sept. 9, according to the affidavit, Brandi Robinson told police her brother “could not stand Christiana Fesmire.”
On Sept 12, according to the affidavit, Buddy Robinson described Fesmire to police as “temperamental” and “loud” and said he would “tease her for being ‘schizo’ for being emotionally up and down all the time.”
During the same interview, Buddy Robinson allegedly told police he did not have a sexual relationship with Fesmire.
According to the affidavit, Buddy Robinson told police he did not see Fesmire much because “she liked to party a lot while he doesn’t drink much and prefers to stay home with his eight year old nephew.”
According to the affidavit, during an interview Sept. 20 Lewiston Police Det. Roland Godbout told Buddy Robinson all Godbout wanted to do was find Fesmire so he could tell Fesmire’s family what happened, Robinson allegedly responded, “I’m so stressed out that I can’t think straight. I can’t remember where I put her.”
Robinson told police he is an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. He told police he was “on parole” for harassing an ex-girlfriend.
In December 2010, Robinson was convicted of stalking in Presque Isle District Court.
