‘Cupid of Chaos’ arrested by local deputies

A man who failed to appear on bigamy charges in a New Hampshire court, after he was accused of marrying at least three women, was arrested Friday afternoon in Columbus by deputies with the Franklin County sheriff’s office.

Michael Middleton, 43, did not appear at his scheduled arraignment Thursday in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover, New Hampshire, officials said. He is accused of marrying a woman in New Hampshire, and one each in Alabama and Georgia. If found guilty of the charges, he faces as much as seven years in prison and a $4,000 maximum fine.

A hearing to extradite Middleton back to New Hampshire hasn’t yet been set, Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert of the sheriff’s office said.

Gilbert said an anonymous tip to the sheriff’s office let authorities know about Middleton — whom the sheriff’s office dubbed the “Cupid of Chaos” in a Twitter post — and his Middleton location.

Franklin County deputies picked him up around 2:45 p.m. on the West Side of Columbus, Gilbert said. Neither the anonymous tipster nor Middleton provided information about why he was in Columbus, Gilbert said.

One of his wives, Alicia Grant of New Hampshire, told Newsweek that she bought him a Camaro Z28, clothing and a computer. Middleton took the computer back and pocketed the cash, she said.