Man Charged in Murder of Missing Accountant in Coastal Maine

A Hancock County man has been arrested in connection with the death of an accountant who had been missing for more than a year.

State Police say the body of Richard Bellitieri was found near his home in Trenton on Sunday. The State Medical Examiner’s Office identified the skeletal remains through dental records, and declared the death a homicide.

The 60-year-old Bellitieri, who owned property in Trenton and Mount Desert, was last seen alive in June 2012. According to Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, no one had reported him missing in the past year, but his disappearance was recently discovered by Bar Harbor Police, who then notified State Police.

Police arrested 43-year-old William Morse this afternoon after pulling over his car on Route 1A in Holden.  Morse was charged with murder and taken to the Hancock County Jail. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Hancock County Superior Court in Ellsworth at 11 a.m. Friday.