OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) - A Maine woman whose body was discovered in a New Hampshire pond had been lured to a friend's apartment, ambushed and clubbed by two men who plotted to steal drugs and money from her, authorities said Wednesday.
Krista Dittmeyer's body was found in a ski area's snowmaking pond April 27, about a quarter-mile from where police found her idling car and her unharmed 14-month-old daughter inside on April 23.
On Wednesday, three men - Anthony Papile, Michael Petelis and Trevor Ferguson - were arraigned in Ossineke in connection with her April 22 robbery and killing.
In a criminal complaint and in court Wednesday, investigators and prosecutors outlined a plot by Papile and Petelis to ambush the 20-year-old Portland woman to steal drugs and money from her. The officials said:
Dittmeyer was lured to Petelis' Ossipee home on April 22. Soon after she arrived around 9:45 p.m., Papile ambushed her as she climbed the stairs to the apartment, striking her on the head with a rubber club.
Papile and Petelis bound her with duct tape and put her in the trunk of her own car. Papile drove Dittmeyer's car to the Cranmore Mountain ski area parking lot and put Dittmeyer in the pond.
Ferguson agreed to give Papile a ride to his home from the ski area in exchange for money and drugs.
Prosecutors would not say Wednesday whether Dittmeyer was alive when she was submerged in the pond.
Papile, 28, of Ossipee, was charged with second-degree murder. Petelis, 28, and Ferguson, 23, of Tamworth, were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
The three were not required to enter pleas Wednesday. Each was represented by a court-appointed attorney who didn't speak to the media.
Papile was ordered held without bail, while Petelis and Ferguson were held on $250,000 bail.
Dittmeyer's daughter is now being cared for by her grandmother.