BDN photo/ Anthony Brino CARIBOU — The trial against Matthew Davis, accused of killing two Oakfield residents and setting their home on fire in 2013, will proceed in September in Houlton despite attempts by defense attorneys on Thursday to move the proceedings outside Aroostook County.
Aroostook County Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter denied a motion Aug. 11 by Davis’ attorneys Daniel Lilley and Amber Tucker to change the venue. Lilley and Tucker argued that extensive pretrial publicity about the case would make it difficult to find an impartial jury in a region with a total population of fewer than 70,000.
Hunter denied the motion but said a change of trial location could be “revisited” if there is trouble finding a jury to seat.
“Over the last 40 years that I’ve been practicing here in Aroostook County, I’ve been considerably impressed by the [seriousness] with which jurors approach their responsibility,” Hunter said.
Davis, 35, faces charges of murder, arson, theft and criminal mischief in connection with the deaths of Michael Kitchen, 51, and Heidi Pratt, 49, on Sept. 23, 2013. Police allege that Davis, who has been held without bail since his arrest that same day, fatally shot the couple in the early morning and set their Oakfield-Smyrna Road home on fire.
Jury selection in the trial is set for Sept. 1 and 2, and the trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 6 in Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton.
The hearing Thursday at Superior Court in Caribou also addressed a number of other issues that have been raised by Lilley and Tucker and by Maine assistant attorneys general Leane Zainea and Donald Macomber, who are prosecuting the case.
Hunter granted a motion by the defense attorneys to exclude evidence of Davis’ “prior bad acts,” mental state or substance abuse, and the prosecutors did not object since the defendant is not seeking to plead not guilty by reason of insanity or to use an “intoxication defense.”
Davis, wearing a dark suit and tie, sat silently at the defense table during Thursday’s proceedings. He did not address the judge and was not asked to.
Lilley and Tucker also attempted Thursday to invoke spousal privilege and prevent the state from calling Davis’ wife as a witness for certain lines of questioning.
Since the prosecutors planned to ask Davis’ wife whether Davis was home at the time of the killings and whether a vehicle was missing, the judge concluded that they would not be violating spousal privilege law. The state does not plan to question Davis’ wife about information from phone calls during his time in jail or other conversations, which would be subject to spousal privilege, said Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber.
The court also heard pretrial cross-examination of three witnesses — a corrections officer who processed the booking photo of Davis, and the husband and wife who live next door to the victims. At issue is the identification of Davis by witnesses after his booking photo from the Aroostook County Jail was released and publicized by news organizations and on social media.
The defense is attempting to have the identification and some possible testimony excluded before trial.
The pretrial hearing will pick up via video conference on Aug. 16, when state police Detective Greg Mitchell will testify. Justice Hunter did not say when he would rule on any outstanding motions.
A motive for the crime has never been made public.
An autopsy conducted at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta determined Kitchen died from multiple gunshot wounds and Pratt from a gunshot wound to the neck. Police said the wounds were inflicted by a semiautomatic rifle purchased by Davis. Davis never reported the gun stolen, investigators said, and it was found lying across Kitchen’s body in the burned remnants of the home Davis also allegedly set on fire before leaving.
According to an affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Elmer Farren, firefighters called to the Pratt-Kitchen home the day of the double homicide also discovered a white pickup truck belonging to Katahdin Forest Products aflame against the residence.
One hour later, the Island Falls Fire Department was called to extinguish a fire on Richardson Road in Island Falls, where another pickup truck was found burning. Farren said in the affidavit that police determined the truck belonged to the mechanic’s garage that Mike Kitchen owned with his family. Another firearm found inside the vehicle belonged to Davis.
Police believe the spree of mayhem started earlier that morning at Katahdin Forest Products in Oakfield, where a flatbed wrecker truck registered to Davis had been backed into the building, and the truck and office had caught fire. Police said video surveillance from that site shows the same white company truck that was found burning at the Kitchen home leaving the scene.
After a manhunt, police found Davis at about 10:45 a.m. in a stolen vehicle in Island Falls and arrested him, according to the affidavit.
BDN writer Jen Lynds contributed to this report.
