Fifth person charged with murder in Red Lake deaths

Kevin John Needham, 21, was charged Tuesday with murder in connection with the deaths of a couple on the Red Lake Indian Reservation on New Year’s Day 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He now faces two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree as well as a previous count of robbery.

These are the same counts faced by his four co-defendants: Geshik-O-Binese Martin, 30; Edward McCabe Robinson, 28; David John Martin, 46, of Columbia Heights; and George Allen Martin, 24, of Red Lake.

All five are accused of killing Craig David Roy and Darla Ann Beaulieu while stealing money and illegal drugs from Roy’s reservation home. Their bodies were found in the remains of the house, which was destroyed by fire the same day.

An autopsy concluded they were killed by multiple stab wounds, not the fire.

If convicted of murder, all five defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison. If convicted on robbery, they face a maximum sentence of 15 years.