Dennis Dechaine

Sagadahoc County, ME

Dennis Dechaine

July 7, 1988 (Bowdoin)

Dennis Dechaine was convicted of the abduction, sexual torture, and murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry. The book Human Sacrifice by James P. Moore, a former ATF agent-in-charge for Maine and New Hampshire, contends that the evidence shows that Dechaine could not have committed the crime.

Dechaine's pickup truck was found parked 450 feet from Cherry's body. Rope from the truck apparently had been used to bind the girl. Dechaine's bandana had gagged her. In addition, two documents bearing Dechaine's name had been discovered in the driveway of the house where Cherry was babysitting before she was killed.

Dechaine has summarized his case as follows: "An unidentified man/men took four items from an unattended truck and used those items to kill Sarah Cherry and shift responsibility to the owner of the truck, Dennis Dechaine."

At trial, the medical examiner, Ronald Roy, estimated that Cherry had died 30 to 36 hours before he examined the victim's body at 2 p.m. on July 8, 1988. The longest estimate, based on the presence of rigor mortis, would have put the time of death at 2 a.m., July 7. However, according to police evidence, Dechaine emerged from the woods before 8:45 p.m. on July 6, when a motorist stopped to pick him up, after which time he has a solid alibi.

Moore said, when he first began looking at the case in 1992, "I was going to prove that all the criticisms [of law enforcement] were unfounded. It just didn't work out that way." Some have disputed the timing of Cherry's death, citing ambiguity in the medical examiner's testimony. However, according to Moore, "Every pathologist interviewed, and every forensic pathology textbook agrees that, in this situation and circumstances, rigor mortis would last a maximum of 36 hours."

Evidence which could have identified Cherry's real killer was destroyed by the state. This evidence included a hair found on the victim's arm, a hair found on the rope binding victim's wrists, and mystery fingerprints on the door of the house from which Cherry was abducted. The state attempted to hide DNA test results of blood found under the victim's fingernails. These results showed the blood belonged to an unknown male. Further testing has ruled out male family members, police officers, or medical examiner office personnel who could have inadvertently contaminated the evidence. Dechaine is serving a life without parole sentence. (Boston Globe) (IB) (www.trialanderrordennis.org) [7/05]