Charlotte Lester’s remains found 2 years after disappearance; suspect charged
by: Melanie DaSilva, Sarah Doiron
EXETER, R.I. (WPRI) — Detectives have arrested a man in connection with the disappearance and murder of a Warwick woman who had been missing for more than two years.
Mark Perkins, 64, was taken into custody Wednesday morning at a convenience store and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the suspicious death of 44-year-old Charlotte Lester.
Court documents obtained by 12 News reveal that Lester’s remains were discovered by a hunter Sunday near the Exeter-West Greenwich town line.
Lester was first reported missing by her landlord, who court documents said she was in a relationship with. He told investigators at the time that he had last seen her and her dog Chloe at her townhouse on May 16, 2022.
Watch: Officers arrest Warwick murder suspect
Her dog was found wandering Elmwood Avenue a few days after she vanished without a trace, per the court documents, which her landlord explained was unusual since Lester did not go anywhere without her.
Investigators learned that Lester kept “a small group of friends and boyfriends,” which included Perkins, according to court documents. He told the detectives who visited his Staples Avenue home in the days following her disappearance that he had no idea where she was.
“Detectives reported that [Perkins] appeared calm and unaffected with her disappearance,” the court documents noted. “He stated that she had stopped texting him and did not know where she was.”
Lester’s friend eventually came forward and reported speaking with Perkins at Cumberland Farms the day after she was reported missing.
Her friend noticed that Perkins “had what appeared to be dried blood all over his hands” and she “could clearly see scratch marks and ‘bite marks’ on his arms,” according to court documents.
“Perkins told her that on Monday night, he and Charlotte had ‘the blow out of the century’ and that his house ‘was a bloodbath,’” the court documents said. “He then said, ‘I think I killed her.’”
Court documents noted that detectives who searched Perkins’ home the next day found evidence of blood spatter in his bedroom, as well as a stained shirt hanging on a clothes line over a bottle of bleach in his basement.
Though blood was found on his bed frame, court documents noted that none was found on Perkins’ mattress. Investigators later learned that he bought a new one under an alias two days prior to the search.
Laboratory testing later identified the blood as likely being Lester’s, with the court documents noting that it matched her mother’s DNA profile.
Detectives discovered Lester’s red pickup truck abandoned outside Kent Hospital a couple of days after searching Perkins’ home, and a search party found a series of letters addressed to her in the woods nearby.
Surveillance footage from the hospital parking lot showed Perkins getting out of the driver’s seat of Lester’s truck and walking away, the court documents stated.
Perkins was seen on residents’ security cameras driving through the neighborhood with an unknown object in his truck bed two days after Lester vanished, according to court documents. He was gone for roughly three hours and when he returned, the object was no longer there.
Perkins was arrested in August 2022 after he went after radio talk show host John DePetro with a lawnmower outside his home.
DePetro and a woman were across the street from Perkins’ home live-streaming at the time and could be heard asking him about Lester’s whereabouts moments before he started up the mower and charged at them.
Meanwhile, Lester’s family and friends continued to search for her in the years following her disappearance, even hiring a private investigator to get to the bottom of what happened.
Fast forward to this past weekend, when court documents reveal human remains were discovered in the woods off of Plain Road within the Wood River Arcadia Management Area. Detectives were able to quickly identify the remains as being Lester’s using dental records.
Investigators later learned that Perkins had visited several secluded spots in the woods over the past two years, including near where Lester’s remains were uncovered.
“We always believed something happened to Charlotte, but not having the remains was definitely a key here,” Deputy Police Chief Michael Lima said.
Watch: Police provide update on Charlotte Lester case
Kathy Wilson, a close family friend of the Lesters, told 12 News her loved ones are relieved to finally have some closure.
“It happened exactly the way we thought it did, where we thought it did, and by who,” Wilson said. “We’re just happy to move forward and for justice to be served.”
Perkins was ordered held without bail. He is due back in court next week in connection with a separate case.
The investigation into Lester’s disappearance and death is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Nadine Parmenter at (401) 468-4200. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via the WARWICKPD app or by texting “WARWICKPD” to 847411.