The shooting of a 34-year-old Virginia man whose body was discovered in Edgecomb on Dec. 3 is tied to an illicit Chinese marijuana grow in Turner, the Maine Wire has learned.
The Maine Wire previously reported on Thursday that the Maine State Police (MSP) were investigating a homicide at 57 Conant Road in Turner, the location of a massive marijuana cultivation facility controlled by Chinese criminal organizations.
The MSP announced on on Dec. 10 that William N. Robinson, of Austinville, Va., had been found dead of an apparent homicide near a Lincoln County land preserve not far from the banks of the Sheepscot River. However, the agency has not yet publicly disclosed that Robinson’s death is connected to the illicit cannabis grow in Turner.
On Dec. 10 when the MSP initially announced Robinson’s death by homicide, the police agency did not announce any suspects or persons of interest and said there was no ongoing danger.
No suspect has been arrested in relation to the shooting.
Three sources, who have asked to remain anonymous either for their personal safety or because they are not authorized to speak publicly about a law enforcement matter, have said MSP’s homicide investigation has included the large marijuana cultivation facility at 57 Conant Road in Turner, adjacent to the Twitchell-Auburn-Turner airport.
A spokesperson from the MSP declined to comment on the new revelations concerning Robinson’s death, claiming that the Maine Wire’s report Thursday of a homicide investigation centered in Turner was not “entirely” accurate. But the spokesperson refused to be more specific or comment on the investigation generally.
According to sources who spoke with the Maine Wire, the state police have solicited security camera footage from a property near 57 Conant Road, individuals familiar with Robinson and the shooter have provided the MSP with a definite suspect in the shooting, and the shooting occurred within the building on Dec. 3. The suspect subsequently transported Robinson’s body to a wooded area in Edgecomb near where the pair had been staying, but the body was quickly discovered by a hunter.
According to a November investigative report from the Maine Wire, the MSP knew as early as March 2021 that the Turner facility was a cannabis business under the control of a “Chinese gang” from New York. However, the MSP has made no arrests in connection with the illicit activities at the site.
In 2021, the property was owned by Green Future LLC, a shell company with connections to multiple black-market cannabis operators and properties. Although it has since changed hands and become the subject of legal disputes, sources confirmed for the Maine Wire that there was at least one licensed medicinal marijuana grow active in the building at the time of the shooting. The Maine Wire has also confirmed that the property remains under the control of Green Future LLC’s former director, Ganggang “George” Zheng.
Since Green Future’s transformed the former machine shop hangar into a marijuana grow and flophouse for illegal alien labor, both the state police and the Androscoggin Sheriff’s Department have responded to the location multiple times for a variety of reasons, ranging from civil disputes and missing persons cases to armed robbery and alleged hostage situations.
During the same time period, Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy has rescinded the medicinal marijuana licenses of several Chinese cannabis growers from out-of-state who also had ties to Green Future LLC and its various properties.
Before his death, Robinson had accumulated an extensive criminal history spanning multiple offenses and jurisdictions, according to court records from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Both he and his suspected murderer were on the radar of Maine law enforcement for their suspected role in interstate drug trafficking operations.
Robinson’s prior record in Virginia included convictions for grand larceny, breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, possession of a controlled substance, forgery, obtaining money or property by false pretenses, and identity theft.
Robinson’s ties to Maine are unclear, but initial reports on his death said he had recently been staying at the property in Edgecomb near where his body was found.
