Maine State Police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency say they are investigating the discovery of a methamphetamine lab inside a Northport home on Friday.

It was the second meth lab discovered in Maine so far this year.

Troopers found the lab inside the house at 97 Prescott Hill Road while conducting a check on the home’s occupant, who was out on bail on unrelated drug charges, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

He said Saturday that Melinda “Mindy” Way, 38, was rearrested for violating her bail conditions and taken to the Waldo County Jail.

MDEA’s meth lab team went to the home Friday night and seized a “substantial amount of evidence related to the manufacturing of meth,” McCausland said.

Way and a second person are expected to be charged on the meth violations, likely this coming week, he said.

Way and two others were arrested last April by state police troopers for allegedly forging checks from two Belfast businesses to purchase drugs. Way was the bookkeeper for the businesses, McCausland said.

Biddeford police arrested a robbery suspect and his alleged victim after an incident in which a shot was fired early Saturday morning.

Police said the incident took place in an apartment at 163 Cleaves St. shortly after 1 a.m. They said they received a call reporting a robbery, and the alleged victim, Austin T. Huntley, 18, who lives in the apartment, said he was robbed by Antonio M. Becerril, 19, of Hopedale, Massachusetts.

Police said Huntley told them that he and Becerril scuffled and that Bercerril had a handgun, which went off during the struggle, with a bullet lodging in the wall. No one was hurt by the gunshot, Biddeford police said.

Becerril was located quickly by police and arrested after a brief chase on foot.

While officers were in Huntley’s apartment, they said they noticed a strong smell of marijuana and obtained a search warrant for the apartment, finding a loaded handgun, an assault rifle, a shotgun, ammunition and marijuana.

Police said they believe Becerril planned to rob Huntley of the marijuana in his apartment.

Huntley was charged with aggravated furnishing of drugs. Bail was set at $1,000 and he was taken to York County Jail.

Becerril was charged with robbery and refusing to submit to arrest. He was being held at York County Jail on $100,000 bail.

Police said a 17-year-old girl from Milford, Massachusetts, who was with Becerril was charged with unlawful possession of drugs and illegally transporting drugs by a minor. She was released into the custody of her parents.

Bob McLaughlin’s obsession began on a spring night in 2004 outside his home, his gaze fixed on an intense glow that hung above the hillside.

McLaughlin, an advertising writer, had just bought a house on the edge of South Pond in Warren, a two-mile stretch of water surrounded by trees just west of Route 1. Looking over the pond, he could not help but see the halogen lights looming.

“It looked like a city,” said McLaughlin, now 71. “I said, ‘That must be the prison.’ ”

His mind went straight to the only inmate he knew by name, whose case he had read about a few years earlier but had not considered since.

Dennis Dechaine, he thought. Whatever happened to Dennis Dechaine?

His search for answers in the state’s most infamous murder case has absorbed the better part of a decade, pulling him into the orbit of true believers who continue to dispute what police, the Maine Attorney General’s Office, a jury and the state’s highest court have decided is a matter long since settled: That one July afternoon in 1988, Dechaine abducted 12-year-old Sarah Cherry, sexually assaulted her, strangled her, stabbed her and dumped her body in the woods near the Bowdoin home where she was babysitting.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s over, and we’d like to leave it over,” said Chris Crosman, Cherry’s stepfather, who lives in Bowdoin. “We went through 25 years of hell, and we don’t want any more.”

Sarah Cherry, 12, of Bowdoin, died in July of 1988 and Dennis Dechaine was convicted of killing her.

But the official version of events is something that McLaughlin and his cohorts cannot accept.

What drives them to follow Dechaine – and not any other case or cause – is difficult even for some of the most steadfast believers to explain. They discuss the case in the most personal ways, struggling to square their internal sense of justice with Dechaine’s conviction and failed appeals.

And while they say it will be science, not their words, that will ultimately free Dechaine, advocates also leave meetings with the prisoner enraptured and humbled – and most strikingly, even more deeply convinced that he is not a killer. A core group of perhaps a dozen keep in regular touch with one another and Dechaine, and claim an email list of several thousand.

Their persistence, now more than 27 years after the crime, is highly unusual.

“The vast majority of these cases, even cases where people are exonerated, have gone for years, if not decades, in obscurity,” said Bryce Benjet, an attorney with the Innocence Project in New York, which works to exonerate convicts, often with DNA evidence. “I think (the Dechaine case has) a very unusual dynamic, and generally only seen in the most compelling cases.”

Their work has also caught the attention of a documentary filmmaker, Richard Searls, who has spent a decade collecting footage. In December, he released a 22-minute interview with a longtime pathologist who says that Dechaine could not possibly have killed Cherry, because she died after Dechaine was already in custody – a primary contention that his supporters say proves Dechaine was innocent.

“At a deeply personal level, I’m staking everything on this,” said Bernie Huebner, 72, of Waterville, another advocate for Dechaine. “All we want is a trial where a jury can hear all the evidence. That’s why this documentary film is so important. It’s our last attempt.”

PIECES OF EVIDENCE

Sarah Cherry was 12 years old when she embarked on her first babysitting job on July 6, 1988, at the home of Jennifer Henkel. Neighbors reported hearing someone pull into Henkel’s driveway that afternoon, and hearing the family’s dogs barking.

When Henkel returned home later, Cherry was gone. In her driveway, Henkel found a receipt and a notebook with the name Dennis Dechaine on them. She called police, and they began to search for both Cherry and the 30-year-old Dechaine, who lived in Bowdoinham, around 4 p.m.

Around 8:45 p.m., Dechaine walked out of the woods on Dead River Road in Bowdoin, three miles from the Henkel home, where he was picked up by police and questioned. While he was in custody that night, police found Dechaine’s truck at the end of a logging road. Two days later, Cherry’s body was found less than 500 feet from where the truck was parked. She had been sexually assaulted with sticks, stabbed 13 times and slashed with a knife, and choked to death. A rope and a scarf from Dechaine’s truck were used to commit the crime. Police later said that Dechaine made incriminating statements during his time in custody.

At trial, Dechaine testified in his own defense. He said he went into the woods that day to inject drugs, and had trouble recalling parts of the day when Cherry went missing.

His supporters, meanwhile, have maintained that forensic evidence that was either downplayed or not fully explored at trial shows Dechaine could not possibly have committed the crime:

• No hair, fiber or blood was found on Dechaine or in his truck that could link him to Cherry.

• The knife used to stab and cut Cherry was never found, and a police dog did not find a scent of Cherry in Dechaine’s truck. A search dog tracking from the truck also did not lead to Cherry’s body.

• To prove his innocence, Dechaine has offered to pay for DNA testing of the evidence since the beginning of the case – a request that has never been granted. His willingness to submit to such testing is further proof of his innocence, his supporters believe.

The time of Cherry’s death has also been disputed. Dechaine supporters say the state’s own forensic examiner concluded that Cherry died after Dechaine was taken into police custody, a finding that wasn’t properly emphasized at trial.

Collectively, Dechaine’s supporters say they have spent thousands of hours visiting with him.

They have told Dechaine about their lives, their families, their travels, their difficulties and successes. They ask about his feelings, his life in prison and his attempts to keep himself busy and his mind intact. They fret to one another about the places Dechaine will never go, the children he will never raise, the life he will never live.

Aside from scientific evidence they contend disproves his guilt, supporters believe that the thinking, feeling person they have come to know was not capable of committing such a heinous crime, that his character is proof enough of his innocence.

Underpinning the criticism is the belief that police and prosecutors, in their rush to arrest someone and quell public fear, never considered anyone but Dechaine as a suspect – that the desire to convict him was so overriding it subverted any chance of a full and fair investigation or trial – accusations that authorities say are baseless.

All of Dechaine’s appeals for a new trial, including to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, have been rejected.

To get a new trial, he would have to show not only that there was new, exculpatory evidence the court had not considered, but that this evidence would raise doubts about the original verdict.

“The standard in Maine is pretty darn high to get a convicted person a new trial,” said Warren Silver, who retired from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2014 and who has had no role in deciding any of Dechaine’s appeals. “You have to produce some evidence to say that this is so compelling that we have to retry this case, evidence that wasn’t in front of a jury. It is a puzzling situation, why these people believe in him. He’s had a lot of due process.”

UNEXPECTED ALLIES

At the core of the group advocating for Dechaine are two people who, when they first met in 1992, had little nice to say about each other.

Carol Waltman grew up with Dechaine in Madawaska, and is among his oldest friends. Dechaine was close to Waltman’s husband and brother. Waltman, 56, was one of Dechaine’s most strident supporters during his arrest and trial. She founded a nonprofit group, Trial and Error, to draw support to Dechaine’s cause.

Three years after his conviction, Waltman took her argument for exoneration on the road. During a talk at the Unitarian Church in Brunswick, Waltman saw a man at the back of the room she sensed was in law enforcement. His name was Jim Moore, a retired agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. When Waltman finished speaking, Moore approached her. He said he wanted to investigate the crime himself, to prove Waltman was wrong. He had worked with the Maine State Police for years, and believed they were a good outfit.

“He said, ‘You’re a nitwit,’ ” Waltman said. ” ‘The cops in Maine wouldn’t do something like this.’ ”

Moore’s investigation ballooned. He spent eight years plowing through thousands of pages of records, trial transcripts, police reports and handwritten notes, reinterviewing police and experts. The product of his work, a 418-page book, “Human Sacrifice,” explores in granular detail the case for Dechaine’s innocence. It concludes that he was wrongly convicted.

The book became a bible for Dechaine’s supporters, a reference resource as well as a tool to evangelize on Dechaine’s behalf.

“What I find among people in power is they don’t want to admit a mistake,” Moore said. “It would embarrass them to admit that they aren’t perfect.”

Moore keeps up with Waltman and other Dechaine defenders, but his work is largely done now. He speaks in a brisk, concise clip and is an admitted cynic – a quality he said helps him ferret out the truth. He can still rattle off facts rapid-fire, bristling sarcastically when he sees what he believes is investigatory malpractice – questions unasked, interviews never conducted, follow-ups that fell by the wayside.

But Moore is getting tired. Six months ago, his wife suggested that he may look for other ways to fill his time.

“I’ve never stayed with a case for years and years and years,” he said. “Never had to. Found out (a suspect) was guilty, and proved it, or found out he wasn’t guilty, and proved that.”

He is left to wonder whether his book – or Dechaine’s guilt – will be proven correct before he dies.

“I’m getting to a point where I don’t think I can do much more on this case,” he said. “Got to find something else to do. Something less discouraging.”

STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT JUSTICE

Moore might be ready to back away, but several others are not.

Interviews with McLaughlin and other of Dechaine’s closest supporters, all of whom have no personal connection to the case or Dechaine, suggest their interest can at least in part be traced to a deep, personalized sense of justice that was often instilled at an early age.

Huebner is a longtime teacher whose career ended in 2000, when he resisted a state law requiring that public school employees submit to fingerprinting.

“I was trying to imagine what it would actually be like. A state trooper physically taking my hand and rolling the print. I felt physically sick. I had a visceral reaction.

“There’s something almost genetic in me that wants to protect the underdog,” Huebner said.

He had a similar visceral reaction to Moore’s book – a gut-wrenching feeling that a man’s life had been ruined.

Another supporter, Genie Nakell, 74, of Portland, grew up in St. Louis, where her father owned a factory that was the first in that city to racially integrate its workforce. When she was a little girl during World War II, her family took in a Japanese college student at a time when Japanese-Americans were being rounded up for internment.

When she was a child, her father always told her, ” ‘Do what you think is fair,’ ” she said.

Already a fan of true-crime stories, Nakell picked up Moore’s book expecting to find a murderer. Instead, she came away a convert.

“I thought, ‘Oh boy, there is something really wrong with this picture,’ ” she said.

Bill Bunting of Whitefield said he could not sleep for two nights after finishing Moore’s book.

“Who can predict what cause can get under someone’s skin?” said Bunting, 70. “It’s hard to explain it.”

As with almost every Dechaine supporter interviewed, discussing the case in the abstract is difficult.

At every opportunity, supporters dive into hypotheticals, seeking to wind back the hands of time – what evidence should and shouldn’t have been admitted at trial, whose testimony they believe was massaged or manipulated by prosecutors, which attorney did what wrong.

Searls, 72, is now trying to raise enough money to fund the editing and post-production work on his untitled documentary. He is working with a Portland-based producer and editor to whittle down his voluminous footage.

He hopes his documentary will strike a nerve with audiences that have devoured the podcast “Serial” from 2014, and the more recent Netflix documentary, “Making a Murderer,” released in December.

“Maine has a certain brand – The Way Life Should Be,” Searls said. “But there is a soft underbelly here. I think there are flaws within our legal system where procedure is valued over truth.”

A 47-year-old man who was shot twice by an unknown attacker while he slept early Monday in his Scarborough home remained hospitalized Tuesday, but his medical condition was upgraded from stable to good, police said.

Police have said that Bruce Glidden appears to have been targeted, though they offered no motive for the attack and have yet to identify any suspects.

Glidden’s armed attacker or attackers are still at large, and police have cautioned residents to lock their doors and be aware of their surroundings. But while police did warn the public to be cautious, they also said they believe the attack was specific to the Glidden family.

Scarborough police Sgt. John O’Malley said Tuesday afternoon that Glidden was still hospitalized at Maine Medical Center in Portland and that he still had no word on when Glidden would be released.

“We’re doing everything we can to protect him, but we can’t confirm whether he was the target or not,” O’Malley said.

Glidden is an owner of Glidden Roofing Corp. in Scarborough. Bill Cashman, another partner in the family business, declined to comment Monday, saying police had advised him not to speak to the media because of the ongoing investigation.

O’Malley would not say Tuesday what kind of weapon was used in the shooting. He also would not say whether police found footprints or tire tracks in the snow that they could use to identify the culprit or culprits.

“There were several pieces of usable evidence at the scene,” O’Malley said, though he would not be more specific.

Glidden’s wife, Amy Glidden, reached at home on Monday, declined to comment on her husband’s shooting.

Police have yet to determine whether the attack on Glidden may have been motivated by some animosity toward another member of his household, O’Malley said. Amy Glidden and the couple’s two teenage children were also at their home on Ash Swamp Road at the time of the shooting, around 1:30 a.m. on Monday.

Deputy Police Chief David Grover said at a news conference Monday that Glidden was asleep in the family room of the house when at least one intruder entered the home through an unlocked door and shot him twice. Amy Glidden and their children were asleep in other parts of the house and were not injured or threatened, he said.

The windows of a car owned by the Gliddens were broken at the time of the shooting, police said. The windows were broken with an object, not by gunfire, Grover said Monday.

A resident of the home called 911 to report the shooting around 1:30 a.m. Monday. Grover wouldn’t say who called.

Grover wouldn’t say why police believe the family was targeted. No weapon was recovered from the scene and none of the family’s possessions appeared to have been taken from the home.

O’Malley said investigators heard that a window on Glidden’s work truck had been smashed about a week before the shooting, but no police report was made at the time. Police are considering that detail as they continue to investigate, he said.

“We’re checking on every rumor and every lead,” O’Malley said.

Glidden has no criminal record, according to a Maine State Bureau of Identification database. State courts have no record of any protection-from-abuse orders taken out by or against Glidden.

Glidden Roofing Corp. is listed as a co-defendant, along with Carlisle Syntec Inc. of Pennsylvania, in a lawsuit filed in Kennebec County Superior Court in 2015 by Granite State Insurance Co. Details about that lawsuit were not available at the courthouse in Augusta on Tuesday.

Police encouraged anyone with information about the shooting to call the business line of the Scarborough Police Department at 883-6361 or the anonymous crime tip hotline at 730-4386.

SKOWHEGAN — Closed cases for Jan. 4-8, 2016, in Skowhegan District Court and Somerset County Superior Court.

Todd M. Anderson Jr., 19, of Newport, operating vehicle without a license Dec. 1, 2015, in Palmyra; $150 fine.

Daniel S. Arnold, 28, of Vassalboro, possession of marijuana, up to 1 1/4 ounces, and placing bait to entice deer, both Nov. 22, 2015, in Athens; $550 in fines.

Liston P. Avery, 62, of Athens, placing bait to entice deer and hunting from stand or blind overlooking deer bait, both Dec. 3, 2015, in Athens; $400 in fines.

Eric R. Bacheller II, 23, of Fairfield, possession of marijuana, up to 1 1/4 ounces, Oct. 29, 2015, in Madison; $350 fine.

Amber G. Beane, 25, of Skowhegan, violating condition of release and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, both Nov. 21, 2015, in Skowhegan, and unlawful possession of scheduled drug and trafficking in prison contraband, both Nov. 23, 2015, in Madison; $400 fine, 12-month Department of Corrections sentence.

Jennifer G. Beane, 32, of Solon, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer Sept. 17, 2015, in Skowhegan; 364-day all-suspended jail sentence, one-year administrative release.

Thomas David Bouchard, 33, of Skowhegan, operating while license suspended or revoked, theft by unauthorized use of property, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, refusing to stop, failing to stop for an officer and assault, all May 9, 2015, in Skowhegan; $550 in fines, six-month jail sentence.

Erin Michelle Boulette, 28, of Skowhegan, three counts of negotiating a worthless instrument, June 9, 10 and 29, 2015, all in Skowhegan; 180-day jail sentence, all suspended, one-year administrative release, $841.32 restitution.

Coty A. Brown, 20, of Pleasant Ridge Plantation, illegal possession of firearm Oct. 1, 2015, in Skowhegan; seven-day jail sentence.

Jessie Brown, 19, of Pittsfield, operating while license suspended or revoked Nov. 30, 2015, in Pittsfield; $250 fine.

Taylor Campbell, 32, of Pittsfield, failing to make oral or written accident report Aug. 17, 2015, and operating while license suspended or revoked, Oct. 2, 2015, both in Pittsfield; $450 in fines.

Jamie L. Charity, 36, of Albion, two counts unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs, April 7 and 9, 2015, both in Fairfield; $800 in fines, four-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but 120 days suspended, two years of probation, $360 restitution.

Jammie M. Clark, 45, of Anson, operating under the influence Sept. 24, 2015, in Anson; $500 fine, 48-hour jail sentence, 150-day license suspension.

Johanna M. Cooley, 33, of Harmony, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, Jan. 1, 2015, forgery Aug. 21, 2015, unlawful possession of scheduled drug and unlawful possession of hydrocodone, both Sept. 25, 2015, all in Harmony; four-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but six months suspended, two years of probation, $595 restitution, $800 in fines.

Cherie Coriz, 42, of Pittsfield, violating condition of release Sept. 10, 2015, in Pittsfield; 20-day jail sentence.

Allen A. Cwikla, 33, of Anson, placing bait to entice deer Nov. 14, 2015, in Anson; $200 fine.

Robert D. Dale, 53, of Hallowell, burning without permit June 15, 2014, in Fairfield; $25 fine, $626 restitution.

Bonnie Lee French, 43, of Augusta, unlawful possession of scheduled drug Jan. 6, 2016, in Solon; $400 fine, seven-day jail sentence.

Matthew W. Gordon, 27, of Madison, stealing drugs June 15, 2015, in Anson, and protective order from harassment violation Sept. 26, 2015, in Madison; 75-day jail sentence.

Savannah O. Gould, 24, of New Sharon, three counts each of burglary and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, May 1 and 26, 2015, and March 7, 2015, all in Solon; three-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but 60 days suspended, two years of probation, $100 restitution.

David C. Greene, 36, of Anson, criminal trespass Dec. 7, 2015, in Madison; $250 fine.

Dylan C. Gregoire, 16, of Jackman, two counts rule violation, both Nov. 12, 2015, in Jackman; $200 in fines.

John Griffin, 43, of Solon, operating after habitual offender revocation Sept. 27, 2015, in Solon; $500 fine, 90-day jail sentence.

Michael Handy, 43, of Harmony, operating under the influence Jan. 2, 2016, in Harmony; $500 fine, four-day jail sentence, 150-day license suspension.

Howard C. Hatchell, 42, of Madison, operating after habitual offender revocation April 20, 2015, in Fairfield; $500 fine, 30-day jail sentence.

Amanda L. Higgins, 33, of Hudson, use of drug paraphernalia Nov. 10, 2015, in Pittsfield; $300 fine.

Jeremy Lau, 39, of Bangor, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer Sept. 12, 2014, in Palmyra; 18-month Department of Corrections sentence, $1,146 restitution.

Patrick L. Libby, 38, of St. Albans, fishing without valid license July 8, 2015, in Tomhegan Township; $110 fine, $110 suspended, two-day jail sentence.

Angela Mantha, 36, of Skowhegan, trafficking in prison contraband Oct. 16, 2015, in Madison; 12-month Department of Corrections sentence.

Scott A. Marino, 43, of Salem, New Hampshire, operating all-terrain vehicle on public way Nov. 28, 2015, in Bingham; $100 fine.

Caitlyn A. Mason, 19, of Plymouth, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer Nov. 15, 2015, in Palmyra; $200 fine.

Carl E. McAlpine, 42, of Burnham, operating under the influence Nov. 22, 2015, in Pittsfield; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Walter D. McCann, 60, of Pittsfield, criminal trespass Dec. 3, 2015, in Pittsfield; $100 fine.

Rachael Raye Murray, 32, of Cambridge, two counts operating after habitual offender revocation Jan. 15, 2013, in Ripley, and Feb. 4, 2013, in Dexter; $2,000 in fines, six-month jail sentence.

Amanda O’Donald, 32, of Madison, failure to register vehicle Nov. 26, 2015, in Skowhegan, $100 fine.

Christopher D. Paquette, 44, of Fairfield, violating condition of release Dec. 31, 2015, in Fairfield; five-day jail sentence.

Patrick M. Powers, 18, of Skowhegan, operating while license suspended or revoked Nov. 11, 2015, in Norridgewock; $250 fine.

Damien L. Raymond, 32, of Skowhegan, refusing to submit to arrest or detention, physical force, Jan. 2, 2016, in Skowhegan; eight-month jail sentence.

Jessica L. Shaw, 34, of Bangor, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer Nov. 19, 2015, in Palmyra; $500 fine.

Robert Allen Simonds Jr., 23, of Madison, operating while license suspended or revoked Dec. 3, 2015, in Madison; $500 fine.

Lucas D. Smith, 37, of Fairfield, operating after habitual offender revocation Sept. 14, 2015, in Fairfield; $1,000 fine, 90-day jail sentence.

Nichole R. Smith, 30, of Bangor, assault Dec. 13, 2015, in Madison; $500 fine.

Katherine A. Strysko, 31, of Skowhegan, violating condition of release and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer, both Dec. 15, 2015, Skowhegan; 90-day jail sentence.

Brady M. Thies, 18, of Pittsfield, motor vehicle speeding more than 30 mph over speed limit Nov. 11, 2015, in Palmyra; $500 fine.

Colby H. Trenton, 21, of Madison, criminal use of laser pointer Nov. 4, 2015, in Solon; $500 fine.

Maxim Andrew Turmelle, 25, of Fairfield, unlawful possession of scheduled drug and violating condition of release, both Aug. 11, 2015, and violating condition of release July 21, 2015, all in Fairfield; $400 fine, four-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but nine months suspended, two years of probation.

Jason A. Tuttle, 38, of St. Albans, aggravated criminal trespass, criminal mischief, assault and domestic violence terrorizing, all Aug. 15, 2015, in Canaan; three-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but 75 days suspended, two years of probation, $500 restitution, $300 fine.

Michael S. Vellucci, 31, of Litchfield, operating ATV on public way Nov. 28, 2015, in Bingham; $100 fine.

Joshua D. Wheaton, 29, of Norridgewock, assault June 17, 2015, in Norridgewock, and violating condition of release and unlawful possession of scheduled drug, both Dec. 22, 2015, in Skowhegan; nine-month jail sentence, $400 fine.

Shawn A. Withee Jr., 25, of Fairfield, possession of marijuana, up to 1 1/4 ounces, Dec. 10, 2015, in Skowhegan; $350 fine.

Evan D. Worster, 20, of Jackman, shooting firearm, bow and arrow or crossbow over way Nov. 28, 2015, in Jackman; $200 fine.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the conviction of a man who was found guilty of hitting his wife on the head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff in Camden Hills State Park nearly two years ago.

Charles R. Black and his attorney, Steven Peterson, brought their appeal before the high court in October, arguing that the lower court made a mistake by not changing the trial venue from Knox County, given the amount of pretrial publicity surrounding his attack on his wife, Lisa Zahn.

The justices rejected that argument, pointing out that Black did not object to the selection of the jury that heard his case. He was found guilty in July 2014 on six counts including attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison with all but 10 years suspended.

In April 2011, the couple hiked Mount Megunticook in Camden and picnicked on Maiden Cliff, a steep peak roughly 700 feet high. Court documents say Black hit her three times in the head with a rock before dragging her to the cliff’s edge and pushing her over the side.

Zahn landed on a small ledge a few feet below the peak while Black, who pursued her, fell and tumbled down the mountain “like a pinball almost” hitting trees and rocks, court documents say. Black and Zahn survived and have since divorced, but the circumstances generated media attention.

Prosecutors said Zahn inherited $4 million in 2010, which Black stood to gain by killing his wife.

Black argued that a change of venue should have been made because the pretrial publicity surrounding the case was “so overwhelming, extensively detailed and prejudicial to Black that selecting a jury would be an exercise in futility.”

The court issued an opinion upholding Black’s conviction on Jan. 14.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

FARMINGTON — The following cases were closed Dec. 7-11, 2015, in Franklin County Superior Court and Farmington District Court.

Brent T. Adams, 41, of Kingfield, forgery Aug. 16, 2015, in Phillips; one-year Department of Corrections sentence, all but 45 days suspended, one-year probation, $110 restitution.

Dayton C. Bjorkman, 26, of Windham, New York, operating under the influence July 19, 2015, in Carrabassett Valley; $1,008.34 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Eric Boncore, 40, of Weld, operating under the influence July 9, 2015, in Farmington; $500 fine, 48-hour jail sentence, 150-day license suspension.

Jamie Bryant, 34, of New Sharon, operating under the influence May 7, 2015, in New Sharon; $700 fine, three-day jail sentence, three-year license suspension.

Dillian J. Burnham, 23, of Livermore, operating under the influence June 8, 2015, in Chesterville; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Tyson Phillip Cantara, 32, of Biddeford, reckless conduct July 17, 2015, in Farmington; $200 fine.

Mark T. Childs Jr., 27, of Auburn, theft by unauthorized taking or transfer March 11, 2015, in Farmington; $500 fine, $100 restitution.

Nicholas A. Dolan, 22, of New Sharon, furnishing liquor to a minor May 14, 2015, in Farmington; $200 fine.

Kevin A. Foley, 20, of Vienna, operating under the influence May 14, 2015, in Farmington; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Jeremiah D. Grant, 35, of Berwick, endangering the welfare of a child and eluding an officer, both July 17, 2015, in Farmington; 120-day jail sentence.

Michael J. Hickey, 44, of New Sharon, operating under the influence June 5, 2015, in Farmington; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Forrest C. Joss, 20, of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, failure to notify of motor vehicle accident, operating vehicle without license — condition/restricted, operating under influence July 21, 2015, in Farmington; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

John A. Lavertu, 24, of Greene, driving to endanger June 21, 2015, in Jay; $575 fine, 30-day license suspension.

Amy L. Levasseur, 29, of Farmington, violating condition of release Aug. 15, 2015, in Farmington; 24-hour jail sentence.

Amy Reed, 24, of Strong, operating under the influence July 4, 2015, in Strong; $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.

Shelly Rose, 51, of Farmington, violating condition of release and operating while license suspended or revoked, both July 25, 2015, in Farmington; $500 in fines.

Jacob G. Roy, 21, of Woodstock, unlawful possession of scheduled drug March 26, 2015, in Wilton; $400 fine, 364-day jail sentence, all suspended, six-month probation.

Rodney Earl Savage, 62, of Anson, operating under the influence June 13, 2015, in New Sharon; $600 fine, 96-hour jail sentence, 150-day license suspension.

Wyatt W. Smith, 28, of Mercer, operating while license suspended or revoked June 26, 2015, in New Sharon; $500 fine.

David W. Swett, 60, of Wilton, unlawful cutting of trees July 30, 2014, in Wilton; $800 fine, $800 restitution.

Casey Turner, 34, of New Sharon, two counts violating condition of release, June 18, 2015, and Aug. 24, 2015, both in New Sharon; $250 in fines.

Scarborough police are looking for a silver car that was seen in the area of Ash Swamp Road around the time a Scarborough man was shot in his sleep early Monday.

Police on Thursday described the car as similar to a Chrysler PT Cruiser or Chevrolet HHR crossover SUV. The car was in the area of Bruce Glidden’s house at 104 Ash Swamp Road about 1:30 a.m., the time he was shot, police said.

Glidden, 47, was sleeping on a couch in his family room when one or more intruders shot him twice, police said. Glidden’s wife and their two teenage children were asleep in other parts of the house and were not injured or threatened, police said.

A car owned by the Gliddens had its windows broken by an object at the time of the shooting, police said.

None of the family’s possessions appeared to have been taken from the home.

Glidden is an owner of Glidden Roofing Corp. in Scarborough. He has no criminal record, according to a Maine State Bureau of Identification database.

Police said it appears the attack was not random and that the family was targeted, but they offered no motive for the attack and said no suspects have been identified.

Glidden has since been released from Maine Medical Center in Portland after being treated for the gunshot wounds.

Police said they have no information indicating the vehicle was involved in the shooting but say the occupants may have seen something relevant to the investigation.

Police asked that anyone who saw the car or has any other information about the case to contact them at 730-4315 or the anonymous tip line at 730-4386.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

A Bath man faces several burglary and theft charges following his arrest Thursday at his home on Floral Street.

John Foster, 31, was charged in multiple incidents, police said. Bath police were notified that a car window was smashed and items taken from a vehicle at the Cabin Restaurant on Thursday afternoon. Police identified a vehicle seen leaving the area, a 2007 Hyundai, which turned out to be registered to Foster.

Police learned he was wanted on four warrants from Portland charging burglary and theft, police said.

Shortly after the Bath car burglary, Foster cashed a check stolen from the car at a local bank, police said.

Police also matched Foster to images taken by Walmart security of a person using credit cards stolen in car burglaries the previous week in Bath, police said.

Police recovered stolen property at Foster’s apartment and are now working with police in Portland and Brunswick to find the owners and determine how many charges Foster faces.

Foster is being held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset without bail pending a court date.

Police said they believe Foster was stealing to support a drug habit.

AUGUSTA — An Augusta man on Friday pleaded guilty to accepting copper wire stolen from a utility company to turn into a city metal recycling center.

John Paul Stevens, 50, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property moments before his trial was set to begin at the Capital Area Judicial Center.

Stevens, who remains free on bail that includes a Maine Pretrial Services contract, faces up to five years in prison for the Class C offense. His sentence will likely be handed down in February.

Stevens in 2011 was convicted of theft by receiving stolen property and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer.

Stevens on Friday pleaded guilty to receiving copper wire that had been stolen from Central Maine Power in order to turn it in for money at Aim Recycling on Willow Street in Augusta.

Stevens’ jury trial was to begin Friday morning, but Justice Joseph Jabar kept the assembled jury outside the courtroom as he questioned Stevens about his decision to change his plea. Stevens, against the advice of his attorney, Elizabeth Gray, said he wished to plead guilty. Jabar explained Stevens’ rights and the ramifications of changing his plea from not guilty to guilty.

“Are you satisfied there is enough evidence to convict you beyond a reasonable doubt?” Jabar asked.

“Um,” Stevens said, hesitating for several moments. “Yes, your honor.”

Gray said she had “reservations” about Stevens decision but would not interfere with his wishes. She said the CMP supervisor prosecutors planned to call had a personal knowledge of the theft. Gray said it was reported to him. Gray said prosecutors would have a difficult time establishing the wire had been stolen from the company.

Jabar again pressed Stevens on his decision to plead guilty.

“In light of all that, it’s your desire to plead guilty here today?” Jabar asked.

“Yes, your honor,” Stevens said.

Kennebec County Deputy District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh said the wire was stolen in April 2015. The wire was specific for the job being carried out by a lineman and his crew, Cavanaugh said. The wire had all been pre-cut for specific jobs.

“It was very unique for those purposes,” he said. “It was not the stuff you buy at Home Depot.”

The wire was left on the work trucks over a three-day weekend. The wire was gone when the crew returned to work on Monday, Cavanaugh said.

The crew supervisor reported the theft to Central Maine Power officials.

Maine State Police Trooper Adam McNaughton learned the wire had been turned in at Aim Recycling. McNaughton went to CMP where he learned that someone had stolen some of the company’s wire, Cavanaugh said. Company officials went with McNaughton to the recycling center and confirmed the wire was theirs. Cavanaugh said Aim had properly collected data, including driver’s license information, on the person who turned in the wire who turned out to be Stevens, Cavanaugh said.

When McNaughton confronted Stevens some time later, he told the trooper that he had sold the wire but that he had done so for a friend.

The recycling company paid Stevens $190 for the wiring.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

A Windham man who police say shot his wife in the couple’s home last week has been charged with murder.

Maine State Police arrested Noah Gaston, 33, Friday night and charged him with killing his wife, Alicia Gaston, 34, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Police said Noah Gaston shot Alicia Gaston with a shotgun just before dawn on Jan. 14.

Noah Gaston called 911 about 6:15 that morning to report that his wife had been shot. The couple’s two daughters – ages 9 and 8 – and son, 2, were home at the time. The children are now staying with relatives, McCausland said.

Police quickly identified Noah Gaston as the shooter, but continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death, saying that they interviewed Gaston and that he was cooperating with the investigation.

He was arrested Friday night in Kingfield, where he was visiting his mother, McCausland said. Gaston was taken to the Cumberland County Jail, and McCausland said he will make his first court appearance in Portland on Monday or Tuesday.

The Gastons lived for several years on Flaggy Meadow Road in Gorham and were house-sitting at the Windham house temporarily, said a neighbor who lived next door to them in Gorham.

Neighbors at the apartment complex in Gorham said Alicia Gaston home-schooled her children. An online resume posted by Noah Gaston showed he recently worked at the New Morning Natural Foods market and cafe in Biddeford and had previously been executive chef of the 91 South restaurant in the PineCrest Inn in Gorham.

The family was said to be active in a church and drew friends from the congregation. Facebook pictures showed the couple hiking in New Hampshire and happily embracing their children.

Cumberland County court files showed no record of domestic violence involving the couple.

Alicia Gaston’s family didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday night after Noah Gaston’s arrest, but had expressed their sadness after the shooting.

“She was a loving mother who stayed home with her children, provided a life filled with incredibly creative experiences for her family daily,” the family said in a statement. “She was also a wonderful sister, caring daughter and supportive friend to many. We are all in disbelief at the circumstances surrounding her death.”

A gofundme page was set up last week to help support Alicia Gaston’s family. The page had a goal of $3,000 and $7.500 has been raised by 95 donors as of Friday.

A Cape Elizabeth man was arrested after allegedly firing shots from a handgun and threatening a taxi driver on Sawyer Street in South Portland Sunday morning, South Portland police said.

Police said Adam Stockley, 51, was charged with reckless conduct, criminal threatening and theft. Police said the incident happened around 1 a.m. in the area of 340 Sawyer St.

Police said they found several shell casings in the road near the taxi cab, which the driver had fled from in fear for his life. Police found Stockley in an apartment at 340 Sawyer St. He was identified by the victim, police said. A handgun was recovered from the apartment.

Police said the driver was not hurt.

Stockley was taken to Cumberland County Jail where his bail was set at $25,000.

Police said alcohol was a factor in the incident.

A Windham man charged with murdering his wife gave “inconsistent statements” to police after he shot and killed her in the predawn hours of Jan. 14.

Noah Gaston first told police that he mistook his wife for an intruder, but upon further questioning police doubted that claim, according to a detective’s affidavit obtained Monday.

Gaston, 33, is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning in Cumberland County Unified Court on a charge of murder in the death of his wife, Alicia Gaston, 34.

Gaston was identified as the shooter from the beginning, but he was not charged until Friday.

Court documents reveal that police detectives don’t believe Gaston’s account of what happened, specifically that “Noah Gaston provided inconsistent statements as to the location of his wife” before she died.

According to the affidavit, written by Maine State Police Detective Ethel Ross, Gaston called 911 about 6:15 a.m. on Jan. 14. He told the dispatcher that he had shot his wife in the stomach and she wasn’t breathing. He said his wife had gotten up “super early” that day and he mistook her for an intruder.

Gaston was giving his wife CPR when police arrived at the home on Brookhaven Drive, just off Route 302.

He told police that he awoke to noises and grabbed his gun, a 12-gauge shotgun. He said it was unloaded and that he loaded a shell before heading downstairs. Gaston said that he believed his wife was still upstairs in bed when he saw a figure at the bottom of the stairs and fired.

Gaston first told police that his wife was in the middle of the stairs when he shot her, then later told them that she was at the bottom of the stairs.

“The evidence at the scene is not consistent with Alicia Gaston being at or near the bottom of the stairs when she is shot,” the affidavit reads. “Rather, the evidence shows that she was standing somewhere between the first and second step down from the landing area of the stairs when she was shot.”

Gaston also repeatedly told police that he and his wife had not argued before the shooting. However, police interviewed the couple’s two daughters, ages 8 and 9, both of whom said they heard their parents arguing.

“She told me she heard mom and dad arguing in their scared voices,” Ross said of the 8-year-old. “She told me she heard mom fall down the stairs and say ‘ouch’ and start crying.”

The 8-year-old also told Ross that “she saw the gun on the floor in the hallway and smelled what she described as smoke and blood,” the affidavit said.

Both daughters, along with a 2-year-old son, are now staying with relatives.

Alicia Gaston’s family did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

The Gastons lived for several years on Flaggy Meadow Road in Gorham and were house-sitting at the Windham house, according to a neighbor who lived next door to them in Gorham. Neighbors at the apartment complex in Gorham said Alicia Gaston home-schooled their children.

An online resume posted by Noah Gaston showed he recently worked at the New Morning Natural Foods market and cafe in Biddeford and had previously been executive chef of the 91 South restaurant at the PineCrest Inn in Gorham.

The family was said to be active at church and drew friends from the congregation. Facebook pictures showed the couple hiking in New Hampshire and happily embracing their children.

A gofundme.com page was set up last week to help support Alicia Gaston’s family. The page had a goal of $3,000, and $7,830 had been raised by Monday afternoon.

BANGOR — A Bronx, New York, man was sentenced to prison Monday on drug charges related to a trafficking ring that brought large amounts of prescription pills and illegal drugs from New York into the Waterville area before it was broken up in 2012.

Anthony Gomez, 35, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor to a term of three years and five months imprisonment and a three-year supervised release on a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute oxycodone, according to a news release from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Casey.

Gomez was arrested following an 18-month-long fugitive investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Casey.

Gomez is the twenty-third person to be convicted and sentenced in the federal investigation into a drug trafficking conspiracy that brought prescription narcotic oxycodone and other drugs, including cocaine, from the New York City area to Waterville and nearby communities.

Maurice McCray, a key player in importing and distributing drugs in the area, was sentenced in 2014 to almost 16 years in prison for his role in the trafficking network. McCray was accused of bringing 6,500 oxycodone tablets from New York City to Waterville personally and through couriers.

According to Casey, Gomez was one of McCray’s New York sources for oxycodone and conspired with him and others to bring drugs to Waterville between January and March 2012.

Federal Drug Enforcement agents, with the help of local law enforcement, arrested McCray and nine other members of the trafficking group in a May 2012 sweep in Waterville and other central Maine locations.

A Scarborough High School honor student appeared in juvenile court Monday to deny charges that he broke into the home of a 47-year-old Scarborough man last week and shot him twice as he slept in his family room.

Matthew Gwyer, 17, said nothing during the detention hearing at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland, leaving his defense attorney, Edwin Chester, to enter denials to charges of attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and felony burglary in the shooting of Bruce Glidden in his Ash Swamp Road home on Jan. 18.

Judge E. Mary Kelly ordered that Gwyer be detained at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland and undergo a psychological exam by the State Forensic Service.

No details emerged during the court hearing about a potential motive for the shooting. Gwyer’s parents and Glidden’s family sat quietly in the courtroom and left swiftly afterward without commenting.

Attorney Daniel Warren, who represents Gwyer’s parents, Drew and Maura Gwyer, spoke on their behalf outside the courthouse after the hearing. Reached by phone afterward, Maura Gwyer declined to comment.

Warren said he has known the Gwyer and Glidden families for years, and described them as good families. He said Matthew Gwyer and the Gliddens’ two teenage children, a girl and a boy, attend Scarborough High School together. Warren didn’t know how well Matthew Gwyer and the Glidden children knew each other, but said it is a relatively small school, about 1,100 students total, and they likely traveled in some of the same circles since they are all involved in athletics.

“The family is distraught. This is a tragedy for everyone involved,” Warren said on behalf of the Gwyers.

Warren said Matthew Gwyer is a high school senior who had recently been inducted into the National Honor Society, had applied to colleges and plays basketball and baseball.

“At this point, we’re still trying to get a handle on what happened,” Warren said.

Scarborough High officials would not comment Monday. The superintendent of schools posted a news release on the school system website last Friday saying the district would not comment on the shooting and referring all questions to the Scarborough Police Department.

Bruce Glidden and his two children also came to the courthouse Monday, but did not attend the hearing. Glidden’s wife, Amy Glidden, and her sister attended the hearing, but said nothing as they left. Bruce Glidden did not respond to an email sent later Monday.

Assistant District Attorney Christine Thibeault, who heads the juvenile division of the prosecutor’s office, said it is too soon to say whether she will seek to charge Matthew Gwyer as a juvenile or an adult.

“We’re requesting a psychological evaluation from the State Forensic Service to help us figure that out,” Thibeault said.

The charges against Gwyer would be considered Class A felonies if he was prosecuted as an adult, each charge punishable by up to 30 years in prison. If prosecuted as a juvenile, Gwyer could be sent to Long Creek until he turns 21, at a maximum.

The identities of juveniles charged with crimes are generally confidential, but the name of a juvenile charged with a felony becomes public once the case begins to make its way through the court system.

Whether Gwyer is treated as an adult is not entirely the decision of the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors would have to file a motion to bind the case over to adult court, which Matthew Gwyer could contest. If contested, the decision would ultimately be up to a judge.

Thibeault declined to say what evidence police have compiled against Matthew Gwyer so far or what animosity he might have toward any member of the Glidden family.

“The investigation is still ongoing, and I wouldn’t comment anyway on the facts of the charges,” she said.

The only new detail that Thibeault would reveal is that a 9 mm handgun was used to shoot Bruce Glidden, the same type of weapon seized by police from Matthew Gwyer’s vehicle when they arrested him Friday.

Scarborough police had received a report of a suspicious vehicle in the driveway of a home on Pleasant Hill Road early Friday, a day after they released a description of a silver-colored vehicle that was in the area of Bruce Glidden’s Ash Swamp Road residence around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 18.

An officer responding to the suspicious vehicle report saw a gray Honda Ridgeline pickup truck on Black Point Road being driven without taillights and pulled the Honda over, police said. They arrested Matthew Gwyer, who was alone in the vehicle, after discovering the handgun inside.

On the night of the shooting, Glidden was sleeping in the family room. His wife and two children were sleeping elsewhere in the house and were not hurt or threatened during the attack.

Glidden, an owner of Glidden Roofing Corp. in Scarborough, was hospitalized at Maine Medical Center in Portland for about two days before being released.

The windows of a car owned by the Gliddens were broken with an object, not by gunfire, at the time of the shooting, police said. This week, police said investigators had heard that a window on Glidden’s work truck had been smashed about a week before the shooting, but no police report was made at the time.

Drew Gwyer, Matthew’s father, is semiretired after serving 23 years in the Navy. He has been active in Scarborough as a critic of property tax rates in the town. Maura Gwyer has been active as a board member and an officer in the Higgins Beach Association.

Chester, the attorney, was appointed to represent Matthew Gwyer for the detention hearing, and it wasn’t clear Monday whether the Gwyer family would hire him to continue representing their son.

Chester declined to argue against detention at the hearing and reserved the right for himself or another attorney to argue for Matthew Gwyer’s release from Long Creek at a later date. Chester met with Matthew Gwyer at Long Creek over the weekend and said he’s coping with the new environment.

“I think it’s hard for anyone to go into Long Creek for the first time. I think he’s doing as well as can be expected,” Chester said.

A petition filed by prosecutors to bring the charges against Matthew Gwyer provided few facts, other than basic details such as his birthday, his height of 6 feet, 4 inches, and his weight, 145 pounds. The one-page petition was the only publicly viewable document in his juvenile case file.

Matthew Gwyer is next due to appear in court March 24, two days before his 18th birthday.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers heard conflicting testimony Monday on a bill that would target out-of-state heroin traffickers by increasing the penalties for bringing illegal drugs into Maine.

While law enforcement officials said the threat of longer prison sentences would send a powerful message to drug traffickers, opponents said Maine prosecutors already have – and regularly use – the option of seeking stiff penalties for trafficking convictions.

“Our prosecutors in Maine . . . they use the most effective tools they have and they take this very seriously and they don’t use this (importation) statute,” said John Pelletier, a member of the Maine Criminal Law Advisory Commission. “It is just not the most effective tool against this scourge.”

The bill, L.D. 1541, would increase the punishments for importing most illegal drugs, but Monday’s discussion in the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee made it clear the measure’s top target is heroin traffickers bringing the drug into Maine from states to the south.

Under the proposal, the maximum penalty for importing heroin into Maine would increase from five years to 10 years, while the maximum sentence for importing illegal drugs considered less serious would increase from 364 days to five years. Importing larger quantities of heroin, cocaine or other “Schedule W” drugs could trigger a new crime, “aggravated illegal importation,” carrying a penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

“It is my belief that stiffening our current laws will help to deter those importing these drugs from entering our state,” said bill sponsor Sen. Scott Cyrway, a Benton Republican who was a D.A.R.E. officer in schools for 23 years and still works as the state’s D.A.R.E. training officer. “If you do choose to cross our border and are caught, the consequences will be so significant that perhaps it will prevent others from doing the same.”

Overdose deaths from heroin and other opiates have surged in Maine and across the country in recent years, driven by a combination of tighter restrictions on prescription opiates, falling heroin prices and new, dangerously potent strains of the drug being sold. Maine had 174 accidental overdose deaths in the first nine months of 2015, with 71 caused at least in part by heroin.

The public hearing on Cyrway’s proposal was held roughly one week after the Legislature passed, and Gov. Paul LePage signed, a bill devoting $3.7 million to hire additional drug agents and to expand treatment programs in the state. But Monday’s debate showed that differences remain among police and those in the court system over the how to address the heroin crisis.

Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry both testified in support of Cyrway’s bill.

“Last year, MDEA increased the number of heroin and other opioid importation cases by a third over the previous year’s number,” McKinney said. “The department supports this measure as another tool for law enforcement and prosecutors to have available in its effort to combat illegal drug importation.”

Sagadahoc County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau, who took no position on the bill, said one of the major challenges with the existing importation law is that police and prosecutors must prove a suspect actually brought the drugs into Maine. Rushlau said he could only remember one drug importation case during his time in office.

Under Maine’s existing drug trafficking law, possession of 2 grams or more of heroin already carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison while possession of 6 grams or more becomes “aggravated trafficking,” carrying up to a 30-year sentence.

“So the tools to deal with heroin right now are pretty significant,” said Rushlau, noting that one trafficking suspect was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison. “It is clear that judges have the capacity to impose very long sentences on traffickers.”

Committee members were divided on the issue as well. Sen. David Burns, R-Whiting, and Rep. Catherine Nadeau, D-Winslow, supported Cyrway’s proposal, but Brunswick Democratic Sen. Stan Gerzofsky said he hasn’t heard from any district attorneys or judges clamoring for the change.

“This bill isn’t really going to accomplish much that isn’t already accomplished through the existing laws and sentences,” Gerzofsky said.

The committee also heard testimony Monday on a bill, L.D. 1534, sponsored by Burns that would create a four-person State Police Interdiction Unit specially trained to detect and interrupt the flow of illegal drugs into Maine. A former Maine State Police trooper, Burns said the program would be similar to a former pilot program in Maine that resulted in nine people being charged with drug trafficking and the seizure of $86,000 in cash and five firearms during a 12-week period in 2013. Burns did not provide a cost estimate for the program.

Kevin Miller can be contacted at 791-6312 or at:

kmiller@mainetoday.com

Twitter: KevinMillerPPH

Four Maine residents pleaded guilty Monday to operating a drug distribution ring in the Dexter area, said U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II.

Charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute oxycodone and cocaine were John Williams, 39, of Stetson; Cynthia Williams, 43, of Stetson; Whitney Chadbourne, 22, of Harmony; and Corey Pomerleau, 24, of Harmony.

In a news release, Delahanty said the drugs were brought into Dexter from Rhode Island. The Williamses distributed the drugs and Chadbourne transported the drugs. At some point, Pomerleau sold oxycodone to buyers.

Each person faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and life on supervised release.

Noah Gaston, the Windham man facing a murder charge for fatally shooting his wife with a shotgun in the stairwell of their home, was ordered held in jail pending a bail hearing in February.

Gaston, 33, made his first court appearance in a brief hearing before Justice Michaela Murphy in Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland on Tuesday. His attorneys are expected to argue at his bail hearing on Feb. 8 that Gaston should be released on bail.

Gaston was arrested Friday in connection with the Jan. 14 shooting of 34-year-old Alicia Gaston at 37 Brookhaven Drive and is being held at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland.

Gaston, who called 911 at 6:15 a.m. after the shooting, told police he mistook his wife for an intruder, but police said in an affidavit filed with the court on Monday that Gaston gave inconsistent statements during the interview.

He said little during the hearing, answering the judge only to acknowledge that he understood the murder charge is punishable by a minimum of 25 years in prison and up to life in prison if he is convicted.

Gaston was not required to enter a plea, since the case has yet to be presented to a grand jury to seek an indictment.

The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Deborah Cashman, didn’t say when her office intends to present the case to a grand jury, which meets in secret. But Gaston’s attorneys, Luke Rioux and Temma Donahue, said they expect an indictment within a month or two.

Rioux, who said he and Donahue met with their client at the jail Monday and in court before the hearing Tuesday, characterized the shooting as a terrible accident but not a murder.

So far the attorneys said they have only received the affidavit in the case as evidence, but they questioned the timing of events as recalled to police by the couple’s two older children.

In the affidavit, the police rely heavily on blood evidence from the stairwell and an examination of Alicia Gaston’s wounds by the state medical examiner, as well as statements from the couple’s 8- and 9-year-old daughters. The older girl unlocked the door for police and told them she woke up to a loud bang, the affidavit said. The 8-year-old told police she heard their parents arguing before the shooting.

“I think the chronology is very vague from the affidavit we have, and once we get some evidence I think it will show it was a tragedy but not a murder,” Rioux said outside the courtroom after the hearing.

Donahue said Gaston seemed “devastated” about the loss of his wife when he spoke to them.

Donahue also represents Gaston in a District Court custody case, initiated by the state Department of Health and Human Services after Alicia Gaston’s death, to place the couple’s children with maternal family members.

According to the affidavit, written by Maine State Police Detective Ethel Ross, Gaston called 911 about 6:15 a.m. on Jan. 14. He told the dispatcher that he had shot his wife in the stomach and she wasn’t breathing. He said his wife had gotten up “super early” that day and he mistook her for an intruder.

Gaston was giving his wife CPR when police arrived at the home on Brookhaven Drive, just off Route 302.

He told police that he awoke to noises and grabbed his gun, a 12-gauge shotgun. He said it was unloaded and that he loaded a shell before heading downstairs. Gaston said he believed his wife was still upstairs in bed when he saw a figure at the bottom of the stairs and fired.

Gaston first told police that his wife was in the middle of the stairs when he shot her, then later told them she was at the bottom.

“The evidence at the scene is not consistent with Alicia Gaston being at or near the bottom of the stairs when she is shot,” the affidavit reads. “Rather, the evidence shows that she was standing somewhere between the first and second step down from the landing area of the stairs when she was shot.”

Gaston also repeatedly told police that he and his wife had not argued before the shooting, contradicting what the younger daughter told investigators.

“She told me she heard mom and dad arguing in their scared voices,” Ross said of the 8-year-old. “She told me she heard mom fall down the stairs and say ‘ouch’ and start crying.”

The 8-year-old also told Ross that “she saw the gun on the floor in the hallway and smelled what she described as smoke and blood,” the affidavit said.

Both daughters, along with a 2-year-old son, are now staying with Alicia Gaston’s relatives.

No one from the family of Alicia Gaston, who was the sister of a Portland Press Herald photographer, appeared in court on Tuesday. Her family has not responded to requests for comment this week.

Gaston’s mother, Donovan Gaston, and sister, Jill Davis, sat in the back of the courtroom with another attorney from Rioux’s and Donahue’s law firm, but did not speak to reporters as they left the courtroom.

Gaston, dressed in a blue checked button-down shirt and mustard-colored pants, did not appear to acknowledge his mother and sister as he walked past them into the courtroom or as he left the courtroom minutes later.

Noah and Alicia Gaston had lived for several years on Flaggy Meadow Road in Gorham and were house-sitting at the Windham house, according to a neighbor who lived next door to them in Gorham. Neighbors at the apartment complex in Gorham said Alicia Gaston home-schooled their children.

An online resume posted by Noah Gaston said he recently worked at the New Morning Natural Foods market and cafe in Biddeford and had previously been executive chef of the 91 South restaurant at the PineCrest Inn in Gorham.

The family was said to be active at church and drew friends from the congregation. Facebook pictures showed the couple hiking in New Hampshire and happily embracing their children.

AUGUSTA — A former Gardiner man will spend 18 months in prison for having unlawful sexual contact with a 13-year-old boy more than 15 years ago.

Benjamin T. Brazier, 56, was living in Gardiner at the time the offenses of unlawful sexual contact and assault occurred around Sept. 1, 2000.

Brazier, now of Windham, was sentenced Tuesday during a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center to a four-year prison term with 18 months of that to be served immediately and the remainder suspended. He was placed on two years of probation and ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender under the state’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Conditions of probation ban him from contact with the victim and with boys under age 16.

His attorney, Lisa Whittier, told the judge that Brazier had no recollection of the events. She also said Brazier had suffered several strokes.

In exchange for his guilty plea to the charges of unlawful sexual contact and assault, additional charges of gross sexual assault, failure to appear and attempted furnishing or procuring liquor for a minor were dismissed.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney had said that the plea agreement took into consideration the fact that the defendant is “in extremely poor health” and that the victim would not have to testify.

Assistant District Attorney Frayla Schoenfeld said she has been in frequent contact with the victim since Brazier was arrested in March on the charges, which were brought originally in December 2000.

She said he supported the plea agreement and did not want to be present at Tuesday’s hearing.

An affidavit by Gardiner police Officer Todd Pilsbury said the boy reported the assault to police at the time, saying Brazier invited the boy to Brazier’s apartment several times, gave him beer, showed him pornographic movies and promised to buy him expensive presents.

Brazier had been arrested on the sex charge in 2005 but apparently disappeared until he was picked up in March in Penobscot County on an unrelated charge and then sent to Kennebec County on an outstanding warrant.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

FARMINGTON — A Madrid Township man has been indicted on numerous charges, including domestic violence terrorizing, by a Franklin County grand jury.

Sean E. Haley, 32, of Madrid Township, was indicted on charges of aggravated assault, domestic violence terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, domestic violence assault, obstructing the report of a crime or injury, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs and refusing to submit to arrest on July 31 in Madrid.

The Franklin County grand jury handed up 39 indictments last week, including Haley’s.

Also indicted was Bennie T. Bowie, 47, of Carthage, charged with attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault in connection with a Nov. 1 incident in which he allegedly tried to kill his girlfriend.

A Carthage father and son were indicted on drug charges. Russell Smith, 51, of Carthage, was charged with unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, conspiracy and criminal forfeiture on July 30.

His son, Anthony Smith, 30, was charged the same day with unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs, unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, falsifying physical evidence, conspiracy and criminal forfeiture.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but a determination by the grand jury that there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

Others indicted included:

• Leo T. Bissonnette, 29, of New Sharon, charged with theft by unauthorized taking from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25 in New Sharon, misuse of identification from Aug. 23 to Aug. 24 in Farmington, and refusing to submit to arrest on Aug. 25 in New Sharon.

• Richard A. Chabot, 48, of Strong, charged with three counts of gross sexual assault on Sept. 25 in Strong.

• Zachary O. Demars, 19, of Carthage, charged with burglary criminal mischief, theft by unauthorized taking and violation of condition of release on Aug. 2 in Carthage.

• Shane C. Dunn, 25, of Wilton, charged with sexual abuse of a minor and furnishing liquor to a minor Sept. 29 in Phillips.

• Aree S. Farrington, 66, of Wilton, charged with aggravated assault on Oct. 10 in Wilton.

• Jody Morris, 39, of Wilton, charged with unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, criminal operating under the influence, failure to give correct name and violation of condition of release on Sept. 18 in Jay.

• Kelly J. Sabin, 47, of Wilton, charged with unlawful possession of scheduled drugs, obstructing government administration and violation of condition of release on Dec. 2 in Wilton.

• Daniel S. Searles, 49, of Farmington, charged with theft by insurance deception, failure to report an accident and driving to endanger on Sept. 26 in Phillips.

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate