A Maine man was arrested after allegedly threatening a woman into marrying him — and then cutting her hand open as part of a Satanic ritual — before she broke free at a New Hampshire Olive Garden, cops say.
Police in Newington, a small town along the border of Maine, were called to an Olive Garden restaurant on Saturday after the woman’s mother tracked her cellphone to that location and requested a welfare check, Boston.com reported.
After police cruisers arrived, the woman ran out of the restaurant and told police she wanted to file an emergency restraining order against 47-year-old Daniel Ouellet. During the interaction, officers noticed cigarette burns on the woman’s legs.
Authorities said that Ouellet insisted he and his “wife” were just out enjoying a meal — and told officers she was upset “because her mother was attempting to force her to join a religious cult back in Pennsylvania, and she was fed up with dealing with it,” according to the report.
However, the woman told police that Ouellet had contacted her over a week earlier, threatening to come to Pennsylvania to hurt her and her family if she did not meet up with him.
It was not immediately clear how the woman and Ouellet knew each other.
After the woman arrived, Ouellet placed a handgun in his pocket and told her they were going to the town hall to get married, “or he will make her pay,” the arrest affidavit said.
The woman, who authorities have not publicly identified, told police that Ouellet confiscated her phone while she was with him. During that time, he also made her drive around in her car as he sat in the passenger seat with a loaded gun pointed at her.
Ouellet allegedly told the woman “that the religious cults were following them,” according to the affidavit.
After searching Ouellet’s car, police found a copy of “The Satanic Bible.” Authorities also allege that Ouellet used a box cutter to open up the woman’s hand earlier Saturday morning as part of what she described as a “Satanic ritual.”
Newington police have charged Ouellet with using a deadly weapon to prevent someone from reporting a crime. Authorities say he faces additional charges in the town of Lee, where he wanted to take her to get married, as well as in Kittery, Maine.
It was not immediately clear what other charges he faces.
In court during his arraignment on Monday, Ouellet denied the allegations and told WMUR: “If you talk to anybody that knows me, I’m not a physical man.”
He also denied forcing the woman into marriage, telling the outlet, “Forcing her into marriage, that’s completely against my religious belief. I totally believe in free will.”
Prosecutors told the court that Ouellet has a criminal record that includes previous domestic violence and driving while intoxicated charges.
