New Hampshire Fugitive of the Week Arrested in Maine by U.S. Marshals

Concord, NH – Last week's "Fugitive of the Week," Russell Shawn Martell, 38, was arrested this morning without incident by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Kittery, Maine.

Martell was wanted on bail violations, stemming from a Rockingham County (NH) Superior Court case alleging seven counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault on a child under the age of thirteen. Martell was last known to be living in Franklin, NH but fled the State of New Hampshire in violation of his conditions of bail. An arrest warrant was issued by the Rockingham Superior Court on February 20th and the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force was requested at that time.

As part of this search, Martell was featured last Wednesday morning as the "Fugitive of the Week." This feature was aired on WTPL-FM, WMUR-TV, The Union Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, The Patch, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Manchester Information, the Manchester Ink Link, the Rochester Voice and prominently featured on the internet. The "Fugitive of the Week" continues to be a very successful tool that has resulted in the location and arrest of numerous fugitives since its implementation in 2007. Additionally, the "Fugitive of the Week" is distributed statewide to all law enforcement officers.

It was the combination of several tips and the investigative efforts of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Taskforce in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine that led investigators to Martell's location this morning. Martell was located at a motel in the 70 block of Old Post Road in Kittery, Maine. Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force from both New Hampshire and Maine moved in and arrested Martell without incident. Mr. Martell was transported to the York County Jail, where he will be processed and held as a fugitive from justice on the outstanding Rockingham County (New Hampshire) arrest warrant.

This arrest was made by several member agencies of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force including; the Belknap, Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford County Sheriff's Offices, the Greenfield (New Hampshire), Biddeford (ME) and Kittery (ME) Police Departments, the Maine State Police, along with deputy U.S. Marshals.

U.S. Marshal, Nick Willard said, "The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force is a network of tenacious investigators who are around the nation and the world, that are dedicated to finding fugitives that must be brought to justice." Willard continued, "Mr. Martell's case is a prime example of a fugitive that needed to be found and brought before the court."

Since the inception of the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 7,908 arrests (Updated as of 12/16/2019). These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 8 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.