On the night of July 20, 2020, a report of shots fired on Collins Lane in Mashpee, Massachusetts, led police to a grim discovery. There in the middle of the quiet, dead-end street lay the body of 45-year-old Damian Anderson of New Bedford. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was later pronounced dead at Cape Cod Hospital. The male victim's death would set in motion an investigation that would soon lead to arrests.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police found a man, Norman Dias, hiding in the woods near the scene. He was initially taken into custody, questioned, and then released. However, as the investigation progressed, authorities established probable cause to arrest him for the murder of Anderson. Dias, a 32-year-old from Mashpee, was located in Boston and taken into custody.
Further investigation led to the identification of a second suspect, 33-year-old Christopher L.
Strickland of North Carolina. In February 2021, the Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office announced the arraignments of both men in Barnstable Superior Court. Dias and Strickland were both charged with murder, along with a host of other firearms-related offenses, including carrying a firearm without a license and conspiracy to commit murder. Dias also faced a charge of accessory after the fact. Following their arraignments, both men were ordered held without bail.
