Thomas J. Beckmann was identified Wednesday as the driver of a sport utility vehicle that died in a fiery crash Tuesday on Route 26 in New Gloucester.

Now Maine State Police are investigating whether the collision with a commercial box truck that killed Beckmann was one he caused deliberately.

Beckmann, whose body was burned beyond recognition after the crash, was identified by the State Medical Examiner’s Office using x-rays.

Steve McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine State Police, said investigators were compiling information gathered from Beckmann’s friends, family and witnesses to the accident that occurred near Sabbathday Road around 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The driver of the truck, Frederick Capen, 40, of Lancaster, Mass., was released from Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston after being treated for minor hand injuries.

McCausland said Beckmann was driving his Ford Explorer north on Route 26 and then veered across two lanes of southbound traffic to collide head on with the truck as it ascended a hill.

Route 26 was closed for more than four hours as the state police investigated the collision. Witness statements mistakenly indicated at first that the driver of the Ford Explorer was a woman; further investigation revealed that the driver was a man.

The accident occurred about a mile north of the State Police Barracks in Gray. Sgt. Michael Edes of the Maine State Police, who was on the scene Tuesday morning, said Beckmann was not killed instantly, but died on the scene as rescue workers tried to subdue the flames.

The truck appeared to be traveling at about 45 mph; the front ends of both vehicles were extensively damaged.

Cumberland resident Thomas Beckmann, 52, was killed Feb. 19 when his Ford Explorer collided with a truck driven by Frederick Capen, 37, of Lancaster, Mass. An investigation by the Maine State Police has determined Beckmann deliberately caused the crash by veering across two lanes of Route 26 in New Gloucester.