Police charge couple with 2nd degree murder in Hathaway investigation

Following more than two months of intense investigation, authorities announced Wednesday afternoon that they believe to have solved the mysterious murder of Thomas Hathaway on Sept. 3, 2008.

Hathaway was found dead in his Akwesasne home which had also been set on fire and nearly burned to the ground. Following the initial investigation, police revealed Hathaway had also been shot.

At a press conference in Malone, Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne and St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Chief Andy Thomas, as well as other members of the tribal police force, announced the arrests of an Akwesasne couple.

Richard H. “Dickie” Oakes, age 38, and Rhonda H. “Amber” Dufoe, age 24, both of 194 Wade LaFrance Memorial Road, Snye, Quebec, were taken into custody at around 4 a.m. Wednesday. Police learned the couple was en route from Plattsburgh to Akwesasne and set up a police checkpoint in the town of Constable on Route 122. They were both arrested without incident.

Oakes and Dufoe are charged with 2nd Degree Murder and further arson-related charges are pending.

“The defendants are being accused of causing the death of Thomas Hathaway” through “two gunshot wounds to the head”, Champagne said.

Both face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

“The community can rest assured that we have two defendants in custody that are responsible for this heinous act,” said Thomas.

Authorities would not, however, release a possible motive for the killing, but Thomas said it was not a random act, and it was not drug-related.

“We can accurately say that it was not drug-related,” he said. “It was personal in nature.”

Oakes and Dufoe knew Hathaway, Thomas said, but their relationship was not something he could elaborate on at this point in the investigation.

No weapon has been recovered although a search warrant executed at the Oakes and Dufoe residence did uncover other weapons.

Further interviews are to be conducted, Thomas said, but no further arrests are expected.

The collaborative investigation included assistance to tribal police from the New York State Police, Massena Village Police, US Border Patrol and Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service.

For weeks, police set up a blockade on Church Street in Hogansburg (near the Hathaway residence) asking passersby if they’d heard anything about the murder.

“The investigation followed through on 275 leads,” Thomas said. “There were 45 investigators working on this case which again culminated in the arrests of the two defendants.”

Both defendants were remanded to county jail following 4:30 a.m. court appearances before the Hon. Frank Lacerenza in Bombay Town Court. Oakes is being held in Franklin County’s jail and Dufoe was moved to Essex County for confinement. Both are scheduled to appear in court again Monday.