March 28, 2024
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Man formally charged in B&B slaying case

SOUTH PARIS – A man accused of killing four people over Labor Day weekend was formally charged Thursday with four counts of murder.

The indictments handed up Thursday afternoon in Oxford County Superior Court contained no additional charges against Christian Nielsen beyond the original murder counts, said Bill Stokes, deputy attorney general in Augusta.

Nielsen, 31, is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 18 in Cumberland County Superior Court. Nielsen was moved to the Cumberland County Jail after an unprovoked attack on an inmate at the Oxford County Jail, officials said.

Nielsen was living at the Black Bear Inn and working as a cook at another nearby inn at the time of the Labor Day weekend killings.

Nielsen is accused of killing another boarder at the Black Bear, James Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., and then burning and disposing of his body in nearby Upton on Sept. 1.

Two days later, he allegedly killed Julie Bullard, 65, the owner of the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry where Nielsen was staying.

The following day, Labor Day, he allegedly killed Bullard’s daughter, 30-year-old Selby, and her friend, 43-year-old Cindy Beatson, when they unexpectedly showed up at the inn. The women’s bodies were dismembered.

Police say Nielsen has confessed to the slayings.


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