Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A Narragansett man who is a longtime resident, a Brown University graduate and retired lobsterman -- and accused of killing his roommate with a gunshot to the back of the head -- was indicted today on a charge of first-degree murder.

Karl R. Ek, 66, of 69 Circuit Drive, was named in the indictment handed up by a Washington County grand jury, according to a news release from Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch's office. The indictment also names Ek on one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence.

The police have said that Ek, shot his longtime roommate, John M. Capuano, 46, on Aug. 11 with a .22-caliber handgun and then called the police to report he had blown his friend's "head off," the Journal reported.

Ek has lived in the same house for 58 years and has no history of crime or violence in his past, lawyers told a District Court judge at a late-August bail hearing at which Ek was denied bail.

The Journal reported that if the two were friends, it appeared to be marked by disagreements, drinking and calls to the police, according to neighbors. In a 2004 incident, the police said a drunken Capuano threatened Ek with a loaded M-11 9mm machine gun. Capuano later pleaded no contest and was placed on five years' probation, the Journal reported from court records. He was ordered to get alcohol counseling and mental-health counseling, and to stay away from Ek for a time.

Ek owned lobster boats for years with crews that included Capuano. He started out with journalism leanings, reporting for The Providence Journal during summers of 1966 and 1967.

Ek is scheduled for arraignment in Washington County Superior Court on Dec. 15.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal archival reports

 Tags  Capuano crime grand jury Narragansett

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