PORTLAND, Maine – A Londonderry, New Hampshire, man wanted since last November in connection with a Portland murder is in federal custody after surrendering to the New Hampshire Probation and Parole Service.
The U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force announced in a news release that Kristofer Haken, 46, was arrested on multiple state and federal arrest warrants.
Haken, who had been convicted in 2011 of a shooting in Manchester, New Hampshire, had evaded law enforcement for six months on charges related to the July 30, 2024, shooting death of Susan McHugh in Portland.
A warrant for Haken was issued Nov. 8, 2024, by the Portland Maine Police Department on one count of Conspiracy to Commit Elevated Aggravated Assault and two counts of Elevated Aggravated Assault.
Aaron Karp, 47, of Naples, Maine, who police said shot McHugh, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month. Five other men await trial in Maine on charges similar to those Haken faces.
Police said members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, including Haken, attacked McHugh and the group she was with, reportedly members of the FSA motorcycle gang, at Samuel’s Bar in Portland with weapons including a sledgehammer, wrench and knife. McHugh, crouched behind a car, shot at the Outlaws with her husband’s gun as they beat her husband and others, police said.
Karp then took nine shots at McHugh. McHugh was hit by one and died at the scene, according to police.
After the initial warrant was issued for Haken, law enforcement in Maine and New Hampshire were on the hunt for him. In April, he was arrested on a fugitive charge in Vermont, but made bail and skipped his court date, police said. He was also wanted on a parole violation in New Hampshire.
After he disappeared from Vermont in April, the U.S. Marshals Service in the District of Maine got a federal arrest warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for Haken. He surrendered to New Hampshire Probation and Parole on May 7, according to a news release from the Marshal Service. He was taken to a New Hampshire Correctional facility. The Marshal service said that he will be transferred to Maine to face federal and state charges there.
In 2011, Haken was sentenced to a minimum of 7½ years after he pled guilty to assault charges stemming from a nonfatal shooting in Manchester the previous year. Haken, during a motorcycle gang dispute, fired a shotgun out the window of a car at three high school students who were bystanders. Jarred Pellerin, 18, was seriously wounded by pellet shots from the .20-gauge shotgun.
The Marshal Service said that a variety of agencies assisted in six-month the fugitive investigation for Haken including Portland Police Department, York County (Maine) Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service Districts of New Hampshire and Northern New York, New Hampshire Probation and Parole, Barrington New Hampshire Police Department, Hartford Vermont Police Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.