SALEM — A series of blood trails through the Winter Island campsite led police to seek an arrest warrant on a man for assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Yet, ironically, the blood that police traced to Casey Miller, 29, of Porter Street, Malden, was his own.
Police didn't know that when they reached Winter Island Park at 7:37 a.m. and were told that the grounds crew had found blood in the parking lot and bathhouse areas. Officer Gilbert Priddy himself made note of blood in large amounts and still wet.
A camper told him that she heard "some type of domestic dispute that seemed to go on at various points through the night" at an adjacent site. The woman, who was camping with her kids, heard names being shouted, including "Casey," and a bottle being smashed. That campsite was empty, however, by morning.
The report notes that the witness did not call for police despite having a cellphone.
The identity of the two noisy campers was easily determined — they had registered. Concerned for their welfare, police went quickly to the woman's address, where she was described as "upset and crying at times." She explained that she'd been seeing Miller intermittently for two years. Picking him up in New Hampshire, they'd gone camping, where they'd both been drinking and, according to her, he had been drinking to excess.
Amid an argument over jealousy, he smashed a bottle and later accidently cut himself with a camping knife, she said. Though bleeding badly, he refused to go to the hospital as he was worried over an outstanding arrest warrant. She added that she didn't feel threatened in either case.
On the other hand, during the argument, she said, Miller grabbed her face, turned her head, took off his belt and made as if to strike her with it.
"She was in fear that he would," according to the police report.
When the pair departed the campground, according to the woman, Miller jumped out of the car on Washington Street.
The woman showed no signs of injury, according to police. She declined to get an emergency restraining order or seek alternate shelter.
"It is unknown where Miller may have gone," according to the police report. His description was circulated to the Salem police.
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