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A lawyer for a Limington man convicted of murdering his neighbor five years ago urged the state’s highest court to overturn that verdict, arguing that police illegally searched his property and questioned him.
A state prosecutor defended the search, saying police were looking for the missing neighbor whose mangled body was later found hidden on the property.
Bruce Akers and his attorney Valerie Randall appear in York County Superior Court in Alfred in January 2020. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments on Thursday in his appeal of his murder conviction.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Bruce Akers was arrested in connection with Douglas Flint’s death in June 2016, and a York County jury found him guilty in January 2020. Now 62, he is serving 38 years in prison for the crime. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments remotely Thursday and streamed the audio on its website.
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Attorney argues 40-year sentence for Old Orchard Beach murder was too high
Dustan Bentley pleaded guilty to the murder of William Popplewell and received the maximum sentence possible under his plea agreement.
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Joseph Mekonis, attorney for Dustan Bentley, speaks with his client during his sentencing hearing in York County Superior Court in Alfred in October. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
A lawyer for an Old Orchard Beach man convicted of murdering his roommate in 2019 asked the state’s highest court on Thursday to overturn his 40-year sentence because the court relied too heavily on comparable cases that went to trial, instead of ending with a guilty plea like this one.