CANTON — An indictment against Adam W. Smith handed up by a grand jury this past Thursday sheds a little more light on the circumstances behind the murders of Ronald E. “Huck” Durham and William M. Freeman.

Smith, 46, Lake Placid, is charged in a single indictment with 13 felony counts stemming from both killings, including two counts of first-degree murder.

For the Feb. 11 murder of Durham, the indictment charges Smith with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.

For the March 1 murder of Freeman, the indictment charges Smith with first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree burglary, first-degree assault, third-degree grand larceny and three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua said he didn’t want to get into too many specifics about the charges beyond what’s contained in the indictment. He did say the first-degree murder charges mean that Smith allegedly killed the two victims in the course of committing “a designated felony.”

“First-degree burglary and first-degree robbery are designated felonies,” Pasqua said.

In Durham’s case, Smith is accused of intentionally killing him while robbing him in East Riverside Cemetery in Gouverneur. Pasqua declined to say what Smith may have stolen or attempted to steal. Durham died of a single stab wound to the neck, police have said previously.

In Freeman’s case, Smith is accused of intentionally killing him while committing a home invasion burglary. Police have said Freeman was stabbed multiple times at his home on County Route 10 in Rossie.

The third-degree grand larceny charge stemming from Freeman’s death is for stealing property valued at more than $3,000. The grand larceny counts are for stealing firearms, a credit card and debit card, the indictment says. Smith also stole Freeman’s truck, which he was driving at the time of his arrest the following day.

Announcing Smith’s arrest on March 7, Sheriff Brooks J. Bigwarfe told members of the press that there is “some association” between Durham, Freeman and Smith. He declined to comment further.

Smith has been incarcerated at the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility in Canton since March 2. That’s when he was arrested driving Freeman’s stolen 2018 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. He was apprehended near the Bradley Street exit on Interstate 81 heading north near Watertown. Police charged him with felony fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and booked him into jail.

At the time Smith is accused of killing Durham and Freeman, he was on probationary supervision following an attempted burglary conviction.

Prior to Smith’s arrest, State Police wrongfully charged a 22-year-old Gouverneur resident Frederick A. Wing Jr. with Durham’s murder hours after he was killed. Wing was arraigned that day and remanded to the county jail without bail. While he was incarcerated, Freeman was murdered, and Wing was released from jail the following day. Pasqua has since said Wing is innocent.

Wing still has a pending second-degree murder count, but the district attorney’s office and Wing’s lawyer, Edward F. Narrow, are working through the legal process to get the charge tossed.

On Thursday afternoon, Smith’s indictment brings dismissal of Wing’s murder charge a step closer.

“Now that this indictment has been filed, the next step is to have Wing’s charges returned to Gouverneur Town Court and they will be dealt with there. I hope within the next two to three weeks, they are resolved,” Pasqua said, adding that he can’t legally charge two people with the same crime when there are no allegations of them working together while committing it.

The DA said there’s no court date yet. He will have to file an application with St. Lawrence County Court to reduce the murder charge and return it to local court, which must be signed by a judge.

“Now that there’s an indictment, I expect the district attorney to move quickly in reducing the pending felony complaint to a misdemeanor so it can be dismissed in the interest of justice,” Narrow said. “I anticipate my client’s charges will be dismissed shortly.”

In an interview with the Times in March, a Gouverneur pastor who ministered to Durham said he recalls seeing him together with Smith, the man who would later be accused of killing him, at the Grace Food Pantry. More details can be read in an earlier story at wdt.me/a86ogk.