ALFRED — A couple called as witnesses in a recent murder trial, and who were involved in a bizarre mishap in Eliot last fall, have now been arrested on drug charges.

John and Nancy Durfee of Alfred were arrested by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Thursday after their vehicle was searched in Kittery. They were both charged with misdemeanor possession of 4.4 grams of PCP, also known as angel dust. Additionally, John Durfee, 67, was charged by drug agents with importing the drug and violating bail conditions, both felonies, according to the MDEA.

Nancy Durfee, 60, was released on $1,500 bail from York County Jail Thursday night. John Durfee was scheduled to make a first appearance at Biddeford District Court Friday afternoon.

Both were witnesses in the murder trial of Jason Twardus, who was convicted Oct. 1 of strangling his former fiancee Kelly Gorham in 2007 in her apartment on the Durfees’ Alfred property. Gorham was reported missing in August 2007. Her body was found on land owned by Twardus’ father in a remote area of rural Stewartstown, N.H., 160 miles from Alfred, about three weeks later.

At Twardus’ murder trial, Nancy Durfee testified that a comforter found in the grave with Gorham was one that had been on Gorham’s bed in her Alfred apartment.

During his testimony, John Durfee said that he had used PCP. Twardus’ attorney, Daniel Lilley, followed up on this admission with a suggestion that an allegedly drug-addled Durfee may have been responsible for Gorham’s death.

Twardus, who has not yet been sentenced, filed a motion for a new trial, which had been scheduled to be heard Thursday, but the hearing was postponed after a conference call between the lawyers and the judge Wednesday afternoon. Lilley on Friday said the Durfees will be subpoenaed to appear at the hearing when it is rescheduled.

Two weeks after the trial Nancy Durfee was found unconscious on the side of the road in Eliot. Witnesses said they saw her vehicle leaving the area and John Durfee has been charged with eluding police in connection with the incident. Durfee told the Journal Tribune on Oct. 22 that he was not driving. Neither he or his wife would say who was behind the wheel.

“It wasn’t me who drove off,” said Durfee during the Oct. 22 interview. “I wasn’t there. Nancy will testify to that.”

Nancy Durfee told reporters a month later that a homeless man looking for a lift to the shelter in Alfred was driving. She said she asked him to drive because it was dark but then began to get nervous.

“I made up a story,” about knowing people in Eliot and asked him to stop outside a house, she said in a Nov. 21 telephone interview. “I think I panicked and fell. I don’t remember falling.”

John Durfee was later indicted on an eluding charge and pleaded innocent Feb. 11.

Twardus’ request for a new trial alleges three new pieces of evidence: An anonymous call that allegedly includes a potentially incriminating statement made by John Durfee’s former son-in-law; a conversation a person allegedly had with John Durfee after Gorham disappeared from her home but before her remains were found; and the Oct. 13 incident in Eliot.

MDEA supervisor Stephen Borst on Friday said the Durfee vehicle was stopped as part of a MDEA investigation. Agents in the Kittery area were conducting surveillance and saw Durfee’s vehicle. Borst said Durfee pulled into the Kittery Information Center of his own accord. A condition of his bail on the eluding charge required he submit to random searches and testing, said Borst.

Borst said the PCP found in Durfee’s sport utility vehicle was contained in five small bags, each the size of a postage stamp. He said the value of the drugs was $50 a bag, or about $250.

Borst said PCP is a drug that the MDEA rarely encounters. He said is smells like mint and is commonly smoked.

According to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, PCP may cause numbness, slurred speech, loss of coordination, hallucinations, severe mood disorders, and amnesia, among other effects.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.