A Maine man is charged with murder in the death of his neighbor, who he is accused of killing and dismembering before burning the man’s body in a backyard fire pit, according to police and news reports.
Tanner Dostie was taken into custody after Bath police officers were called to a “disturbance” on Friday, April 10, according to a news release issued the next day by Maine State Police about a “suspicious death” investigation.
The evening of April 10, officers arrived at a local church where an AA meeting was being held, after receiving a call about Dostie’s behavior, according to an affidavit written by state police detectives that was obtained by WMTW.
There, they encountered Dostie, 45, in the parking lot, where he started crawling on his stomach while armed with a knife, the affidavit says, according to WGME.
Dostie allegedly did not follow officers’ commands and was stunned 13 times with a stun gun, according to the affidavit, the TV station reported.
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Dostie also told officers that he was under the influence of drugs and made several statements about killing and dismembering his neighbor, the affidavit says, according to the TV station.
The comments he made, according to police, included “I killed my neighbor today,” “I killed him to free his wife,” “I chopped him up into little bitty pieces,” and “You’d find the body burned in a firepit outside.”
His comments led police to search a home in Brunswick, where they found a man’s body, state police said in the news release.
The body was taken to a medical examiner in Augusta for an autopsy to confirm his identification and how he died, according to police.
According to the affidavit viewed by WMTW, authorities believe the man is Dostie’s neighbor, Dennis Blasens.
Dostie ultimately admitted to police that he attacked Blasens, 61 with a baseball bat, fatally stabbed him, dismembered him with a small chainsaw, then bagged pieces of his body and burned them, court documents say, according to the TV station. He also allegedly admitted to having taken “shrooms” and stimulant drugs.
Blasens’ wife, Michele Blasens, told officers that they had been neighbors with Dostie for roughly a decade, and that her husband had been helping Dostie fix his truck, according to the affidavit.
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Michele said that Dennis was helping Dostie because Dostie was out of a job and that her husband would visit his home nearly every day to help with truck repairs, the affidavit says, the TV station reported.
Police who searched Dostie’s home discovered blood inside the residence and the surrounding property, in addition to bones in Dostie’s fire pit, according to the affidavit, viewed by WGME.
Dostie indicated to police that he had remorse over the killing, WMTW reported.
He appeared in court on Monday, April 13, for an arraignment, according to the TV station.
It was not currently clear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf or whether he entered a plea.
