Man Left Body Outside Mass. Hospital, Told Neighbors He Was Putting ‘Hockey Goalie Mannequin’ Into Car: Prosecutors By KC Baker

New details are emerging in the death of a Maine chef whose body was wrapped in blankets and left in a car outside a Massachusetts hospital.

On Saturday, Aug. 23, the body of Declan Perry, 27, of Portland, Maine, was found in the backseat of a Honda Civic parked outside of the emergency entrance to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

His body was “wrapped in multiple blankets secured with duct tape,” the district attorney’s office said in a release.

Investigators quickly zeroed in on a suspect, Christopher Caron, 42, of Scituate, Mass., who turned himself in on a warrant at the Scituate Police Department on Saturday, Aug. 30, according to the release.

Caron appeared in Hingham District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 2, where he pleaded not guilty to one count of murder. He allegedly told police that Perry died from a drug overdose, but an autopsy found that Perry was actually strangled to death, per the release.

Caron allegedly told authorities that on Friday, Aug. 22, he and Perry drove to Boston where they bought fentanyl and cocaine, before driving back to the condo in Scituate where Caron had been staying, according to the district attorney’s office.

At 11:49 p.m. that night, Caron allegedly searched online for “7-Eleven and Narcan,” according to an investigation by Massachusetts State Police and Scituate Police.

Caron and a female he called for help administered the Narcan to Perry at about 3 a.m., investigators said, per the district attorney’s office.

The female witness fell asleep and woke up at 7 a.m. to find Perry dead.

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That female witness said she told Caron to call 911 multiple times but he allegedly refused, investigators said, according to the district attorney’s office.

She told police Caron said he didn’t want to call 911 because his mother and grandmother would kick him out of the condo if they knew what happened, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said in court, CBS News reports.

Caron wrapped Perry’s body with moving blankets and secured it with duct tape, according to investigators.

When neighbors saw Caron lugging the body to Perry’s car, they asked him what he was moving, Sprague said in court, per CBS News.

He allegedly told them it was a “hockey goalie mannequin” and joked to the two men who unwittingly helped him move Perry into the car that “It looks like a dead body, huh?” Sprague said.

Caron is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 29.

His attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.