The conference began around 11:15 a.m. The presenters were Lewiston Police Chief Bill Welch and Lt. Brian McDonough of the Maine State Police. State Police spokesman Steve McCausland was present but did not answer questions.

The following is a synthesis of McDonough's initial statement to the press and the answers he and Welch gave to reporters' questions:

McDonough said that the latest development in the case was the arrest, at about 12:25 a.m. March 4, of Brandon Thongsavanh, at his residence, 496 Sabattus St. Thongsavanh was charged with the murder of Bates student Morgan McDuffee, who died of multiple stab wounds in Sunday morning's altercation.

McDonough said that the arrest was the outcome of some 30 hours of closely cooperative investigation between the Lewiston Police Department and the Maine State Police. Although he was unwilling to release specific information from the physical evidence and interviews in the investigation, he expressed confidence in the soundness of the case against Thongsavanh. "We are very confident in the evidence thus far," he said.

McDonough said the investigation revealed "no predetermined motive" in the killing. He summarized the incident as completely chance: "These were two ships that collided in the night," he said.

His understanding of the incident is this: The two groups, which he described as similar in age and number, were each en route to different unspecified destinations when they met, hostile words were exchanged and the hostilities became physical.

He suggested that the fracas started small and escalated as passers-by friendly to one group or the other stopped to join in. It's believed that Thongsavanh entered the fight late in its development.

Thongsavanh will appear in court on the murder charge at 1:30 p.m. March 5.

Chief Welch used the conference as an opportunity to downplay the notion of a town-gown conflict and to reaffirm Bates' place in Lewiston-Auburn. "We don't consider Bates separate from our community," he said. "This is not a Lewiston vs. Bates kind of thing."

If there is any friction between Bates students and resident young people, he said, it's the kind of friction likely to crop up among distinct groups of young people anywhere. "It's more related to their age," he said. "We’ve seen a lot of community members and Bates students become friends and remain lifelong friends."

Both officials emphasized the random and spontaneous nature of the fight. McDonough said that during the interviews with people involved, it came out that "several combatants are humbled by this incident."

Welch said that the police department would increase patrols around Bates. "We want the Bates community to have some confidence that we are in a protective role," he said.

The chief expressed the agencies' sympathies to the McDuffee family.

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