Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Family: Maine man with arsenal not violent



A Biddeford man stopped over the weekend with a carload of guns and newspaper clippings about "The Dark Knight Rises" theater massacre in Colorado now faces federal charges that could land him in prison for more than 10 years.

His family and friends, meanwhile, say he is not violent – just a person with mental illness who stopped taking his medication, and that they were powerless to get him help.

The U.S. attorney for Maine on Tuesday charged Timothy Courtois, 49, with possessing firearms while using illegal drugs and lying on a federal form when he purchased a rifle Friday at Cabela's.

Federal investigators say in court papers that Courtois admitted smoking marijuana and synthetic marijuana, called Spice, both of which are illegal under federal law. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

A state trooper pulled over Courtois going 112 mph on the Maine Turnpike in York and found a rifle, a shotgun and four handguns in a brand-new Mustang along with a small jar of Spice and a pipe. Courtois told the trooper he was driving to Derry, N.H., to shoot a former employer and that the previous night he had attended a showing of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," with a loaded gun.

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