Ormsby deemed criminally responsible for Amity murders

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
PRESS CONFERENCE — District Attorney William Stokes speaks with reporters outside the Arootsook County Courthouse Thursday at the conclusion of Thayne Ormsby’s trial. Ormsby was found criminally responsible for the deaths of three people in Amity in 2010.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Less than a week after he was found guilty of a gruesome triple murder in Amity in 2010, Thayne Ormsby was found “criminally responsible” for the deaths by a jury of his peers Thursday afternoon.
    Ormsby, 21, showed little emotion as the jury announced its unanimous verdict. His mother Maria wept as the verdict was announced.
    Ormsby was convicted April 13 of the stabbing deaths of Jeffrey Ryan, 55, Ryan’s 10-year-old son Jesse, and Jason Dehahn, 30, a friend of the Ryan family. All three were found dead in a mobile home in Amity on June 22, 2010.
    While the jurors found Ormsby guilty of the murders April 13, a second phase of the trial started April 17 because of the insanity plea entered by his attorneys. Ormsby remains in Aroostook County Jail in Houlton while awaiting sentencing. He has been held in the ACJ since his arrest two years ago.
    Jurors spent little time debating Thursday, taking about two hours to come back with the “criminally responsible” verdict. At the request of the defense, jurors were polled on their findings, with all 12 jurors stating they agreed with the verdict.
    An appeal on the verdict could be entered by the defense.
    “Obviously we are very pleased with the verdict,” said District Attorney William Stokes in a press conference outside the courthouse Thursday afternoon. “Frankly, the evidence was pretty obvious that he (Ormsby) was grounded in reality. His reasons for doing this (killings) doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, but some people have reasons that don’t make sense. He knew what he was doing and understood that it was wrong.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
CONFERENCE — Thayne Ormsby listens as his attorney Sarah LeClair speaks to him during his trial. Ormsby was convicted of killing three Amity residents April 13. He was later found criminally responsible for the deaths after his defense entered an insanity plea.
    The fact that Ormsby killed two other individuals to cover up his crime, Stokes added, demonstrated a “classic” model of eliminating witnesses to avoid getting caught.
    Due to scheduling matters, sentencing will not take place until the early part of June, according to Justice E. Allen Hunter. The minimum sentence for each count of murder is 25 years in prison, while the maximu sentence is life. The state will likely be asking for a lifetime sentence, Stokes said.
    “It’s pretty hard not to ask for anything other than life,” Stokes said during the press conference. “Typically we don’t discuss that until we have had a chance to submit our recommendations to the court by way of a sentencing memorandum. But there were three murders here. It was brutal. It was savage. It is very difficult to imagine we would recommend anything other than life.”
    Stokes added that a life sentence in Maine was precisely that.
    “A life (sentence) in Maine is true life,” he said. “There is no parole and no time off for good behavior on a life sentence. So, short of a gubernatorial pardon, he will die in prison.”
    The District Attorney added the jurors impressed his prosecution team in this case.
    “We were very impressed with the conscientiousness of the jurors,” Stokes said. “It’s been a three-week ordeal for them to participate in this basic form of democracy.
    “The families may be happy with the verdict, but you can’t bring back the victims,” he continued. “But then again, the alternative would have been unthinkable. And then you have the defendant who’s not even 22 (years old) yet. It’s such a waste.”