Courts and Crime

Judge Settles Day's Jewelers Discrimination Case

By • Mar 1, 2018

A superior court judge has found that a Native American employee of Day's Jewelers was subjected to a hostile work environment during the many years he worked there because of his race. The judge did, though, dismiss several other related claims, saying they were not the result of race-based harassment.

Mother Charged With 10-Year-Old's Murder is Pregnant

By • Mar 1, 2018
Patty Wight / Maine Public

Sharon Carrillo, a woman charged with the death of her 10-year-old daughter is seven months pregnant. Carrillo also has two other young children who are already in state custody.

The attorney representing Sharon Carrillo's husband, Julio Carrillo, says that his client confirmed that Sharon is seven months pregnant.

It's unclear who will take custody when the baby is born. In Waldo County Superior Court Wednesday, a judge granted the state's request that the Carrillos be barred from contact with children under age 15.

Bail Set for Parents Charged with Depraved Indifference Murder

By & • Mar 1, 2018
Patty Wight / Maine Public

The parents of 10-year-old girl in Stockton Springs who died from Battered Child syndrome are each being held on $500,000 bail after appearing in Waldo County Superior Court Wednesday.

Sharon and Julio Carrillo have each been charged with depraved indifference murder in the death of Marissa Kennedy, and, if convicted, could face life in prison. A former neighbor said he and others also witnessed abuse and repeatedly called police.

Bowdoinham Teen Arrested In Connection With Woman's Death

By • Mar 1, 2018

Maine State Police say they have arrested a teenage boy from Bowdoinham in connection with the death of a 55-year-old woman in her Bowdoinham home.

Police responded Monday morning to Marie Sylvester's mobile home and found her unresponsive. Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says the teenager was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with murder.  Police aren't releasing his name.

"His first court appearance is going to be Friday afternoon in West Bath," McCausland says. "In past practices it's likely his name will be released at that time."

Woman Jailed For Calling Officials ‘My Target’ In Gun Video

By • Feb 28, 2018

Police have arrested a Maine woman who posted a video of herself target shooting while listing city officials by name and describing them as “my target.”

Police say 57-year-old Laurie Allen was arrested Feb. 23 on charges of terrorizing with a dangerous weapon. The Bangor Daily News reports Belfast Police Chief Michael McFadden says the videos and a series of public confrontations have caused “reasonable fear” among officials.

UNE President: Student's Stabbing Death Leaves School Community 'Shocked And Saddened'

By • Feb 27, 2018
Courtesy Univesity of New England

A first-year medical student at the University of New England was stabbed to death Saturday in a reading room at a Massachusetts public library.

Police say 22-year-old Deane "Kenny" Stryker was at a table at the Winchester Public Library in Winchester, Mass., when Jeffrey Yao, 23, came up from behind and stabbed her multiple times with a 10-inch hunting knife. 

Stryker was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

Mother, Stepfather Charged With Murdering 10-Year-Old Girl

By • Feb 27, 2018

BANGOR, Maine - The mother and stepfather of a 10-year-old Maine girl who was found dead at a condo complex have been charged with murder.
 
State police say 33-year-old Sharon Carrillo and 51-year-old Julio Carrillo were arrested Monday at state police offices in Bangor, where they had been interviewed by detectives.
 
The girl, Marrissa Kennedy, was found dead Sunday at the condo complex in Stockton Springs. The family had been staying at a condo owned by the mother's parents.
 

2 Maine Students Charged In Unrelated School Threats

By • Feb 26, 2018
Hancock County Jail

A 19-year-old Ellsworth High School student is in custody after being accused of making a school shooting threat on an online gaming site.

The gaming company alerted the FBI of the threat last Wednesday. Local police arrested Michael Allen Thursday and charged him with terrorizing.

School Superintendent Daniel Higgins says, in addition to regular safety protocols, Ellsworth schools are beefing up their security.

Man Found Guilty Of Killing Joyce McLain In 1980

By • Feb 22, 2018
A.J. Higgins / Maine Public

A murder case that went unsolved for nearly four decades came to a conclusion Thursday in a Bangor courtroom.

A judge found Phillip Scott Fournier guilty of the 1980 death of Joyce McLain of East Millinocket. McLain was just 16-years old when she went jogging near her high school one August evening and never returned. In delivering her verdict after the jury-waived trial, Superior Court Justice Ann Murray rejected defense arguments suggesting Fournier had sustained a brain injury that had damaged his recollection of the killing.

Vermont Teen Arrested After Threatening Mass Shooting

By • Feb 21, 2018

A student who was recently enrolled at York County Community College was arrested in his home state of Vermont last week after threatening a mass shooting at his former high school.

LePage Accuses State Supreme Court Justice Of Going Back On Promise To Retire

By • Feb 20, 2018
Robert F. Bukaty / Associated Press

Gov. Paul LePage is publicly questioning the character of Maine Supreme Court Justice Joseph Jabar after he says Jabar went back on a personal promise to retire before the end of his seven-year term, if LePage agreed to reappoint him.

State AG Forms Task Force to Investigate Spike in Police Shootings

By Willis Ryder Arnold • Feb 16, 2018
Maine Public

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills is forming a new task force to investigate the underlying causes of a recent increase in police shootings.

Mills invited 13 people with expertise in the fields of addiction, domestic violence and crime to participate.

She says she wants members of the group to start out by asking a lot of questions.

5th Circuit Court of Appeals Nominee Faces Opposition from Reproductive Rights Advocates

By • Feb 15, 2018

Maine advocates for civil and reproductive rights are urging senators Susan Collins and Angus King to reject the nomination of Kyle Duncan to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Eliza Townsend of the Maine Women's Lobby says Duncan was the lead counsel who represented Hobby Lobby, the crafts retailer that successfully won an exemption from the Affordable Care Act's mandate that requires employers to cover birth control for employees.

“He is unfit to be a federal judge,” says Townsend.

Bangor Day Care Staff Says Cookies Delivered By Parent Made Them High

By Callie Ferguson — BDN • Feb 15, 2018
Alex Acquisto / Bangor Daily News

Staff at a Bangor day care said they felt high on Wednesday after eating a batch of suspected marijuana-laced cookies dropped off by a parent, according to police.

None of the children at Watch Me Shine day care at 28 Gilman Plaza ate the cookies, which are being tested to see “whether they have been tainted with anything at all, to include marijuana,” said to Bangor Sgt. Wade Betters.

Washington County Official Takes Legal Action To Prevent Shuttering Of Prison

By • Feb 14, 2018

AUGUSTA, Maine — A Washington County official says he filed an injunction to prevent Republican Gov. Paul LePage from taking further steps to shutter a minimum-security state prison.

Washington County Commission Chairman Chris Gardner says he filed the injunction Tuesday against the Department of Corrections in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Gardner says a hearing will be held Wednesday afternoon.

The governor’s administration on Friday removed inmates from Downeast Correctional Facility even though the prison is funded by lawmakers through the summer.

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