Police collect prints, DNA from parishioners

Parishioners at the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church became ill last Sunday after a church social, where they had drunk coffee that later was determined to have been laced with arsenic. Story Tools VIDEO Police in New Sweden, Maine, linked a local man to an arsenic poisoning incident at a community church. CNN's Jason Carroll reports (May 5) PLAY VIDEO

NEW SWEDEN, Maine (CNN) -- Police said Sunday they are collecting fingerprints and DNA samples from parishioners at a church where arsenic-laced coffee killed one person and sickened 15 others, in an effort to find everyone who may have been involved in the poisoning.

Investigators have linked one man to the case -- Daniel Bondeson, 53, a member of the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church, said Col. Michael Sperry, chief of the Maine State Police. Police Friday found Bondeson dead at his farm with a gunshot wound.

Lt. Dennis Appleton of the state police said the Bondeson farm is "definitely" linked to the poisoning, but Bondeson himself has not been ruled in or out as a suspect.

Police, he said, are "considering some theories" about a possible motive for the poisoning.

"We wouldn't want to miss the possibility of any type of plan between two or more people," Appleton said.

A week after the poisonings, which killed church elder Walter Morrill, 78, church members were still grappling with their emotions.

"I've known Danny for a long time. He was a very nice fellow. I liked him very much," parishioner Beatrice Page said outside the church about Bondeson.

Police have said Bondeson's wound may have been self-inflicted. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

At a prayer service Sunday in this community of about 600 residents, the pastor gave each child a heart and a cross, calling them "God's Band-Aid." After the service, parishioners formed a procession outside in a show of unity.

The parishioners became ill last Sunday after a church social, where they had drunk coffee that later was determined to have been laced with the poison. Morrill died hours later.

"It's unbelievable what's happening here. I can't figure it out or come to any conclusions on how or why it happened," parishioner Fred Anderson said.

Arsenic was once used as an agricultural pesticide and can still be found in abundance in rural areas of the state, Sperry said.

-- CNN Correspondent Jason Carroll contributed to this report.

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