Man pleads not guilty to murder charge in Portland YMCA slaying
May 23—A man has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with a death at the Forest Avenue YMCA in January.
Robert Lancaster, 50, was arraigned in Cumberland County Superior Court on Thursday. He is accused of killing 60-year-old David Hannauer of Portland.
Lancaster was indicted on one count of depraved indifference murder, which, if convicted, could entail anywhere from 25 years to life in prison.
An affidavit for his arrest outlining the state's case against him was not publicly available before his arraignment.
Police said previously that they responded to an assault at 70 Forest Ave. shortly after midnight on Jan. 12 and found Hannauer unconscious and suffering from "serious injuries." Lancaster was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. After Hannauer died the following afternoon and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, detectives charged Lancaster with depraved indifference murder.
Little was said about the case in court. His bail is currently set at $500,000 cash, which his attorney did not challenge.
Hannauer had lived in many places, including Central America, New Mexico and Hawaii before coming to Portland, where he lived for a little less than a decade before his death , according to his sister, Katherine Hannauer.
He was raised in New Jersey in a very musical family, his sister said. He was passionate about the ocarina, a small, round wind instrument that Hannauer had not only taught himself to play, but to make. He created dozens of ocarinas from clay and could play them in any key, his sister said.
This story will be updated.
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