Sorry, the subject should read "McLain"

State declines request to exhume Joyce McLain's body
By
Friday, March 21, 2008 - Bangor Daily News


Citing recommendations from the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and the state’s chief medical examiner, Deputy Attorney General William R. Stokes said the chance of getting foreign DNA relevant to the case, per McLain’s request, "is virtually nonexistent.

"Given the fact that 27 years have now passed since your daughter’s death and burial, the amount of bacterial degradation would be significant and would destroy any foreign DNA that might exist," Stokes wrote in a letter to McLain dated March 3.

Wonder what Stokes is afraid of, by exhuming McClain. Considering they shouldn't have to exhume her if they had done their job then, eh?

-
Justice for Joyce fund nears goal for exhumation

http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=165267&zoneid=183

Not counting two outstanding fundraisers, $12,516 of the $15,000 needed to fund the exhumation has been raised, according to the group’s Web site, justiceforjoyce.com.

The victim’s mother, Pamela McLain, expects that if all goes well, the fundraising will reach its goal within two months and exhumation could occur shortly thereafter, she said.

"We figured around $15,000, but that was an estimated cost. It could be $12,000, it could be $17,000," McLain said Thursday. "Hopefully, it [the exhumation] will happen within a month or two, but if we have the money then we don’t have to wait for anything."

The committee created justiceforjoyce.com and a Bangor Savings Bank account for donations, which may be mailed to Justice For Joyce, Bangor Savings Bank, 87 Main St., East Millinocket 04430.

SNIP

No contribution will be in vain, McLain said.

Any leftover funds, McLain said, will go to Parents of Murdered Children Inc., which provides emotional support to help parents and other survivors reconstruct a "new life" in the wake of a murder, according to the group’s Web site, pomc.com.

dr michael baden and dr henry lee have been retained to do a new autopsy on joyce mclain.

louis
east millinocket native

dr michael baden and dr henry lee have been retained to do a new autopsy on joyce mclain.

louis
east millinocket native


Do you really think they can find anything?

Expert outlines McLain review
By Renee Ordway
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - Bangor Daily News

Dr. Henry Lee, considered one of the world's top criminologists, said the examination of a 28-year-old unsolved homicide case in Millinocket would be very time-consuming and consist of a "lot of tedious work."

In a weekend phone conversation, Lee said his review of the Joyce McLain case would involve four basic stages.

"First we must look at all the information, read every interview with witnesses," he said.

Lee and those working with him then will review all of the physical evidence in hopes that something new or yet unseen may surface. It then will be determined whether new scientific technology can be applied to any of the old evidence to perhaps gain new information.

"Number four is to reconstruct the crime scene to see if some piece of information may have been wrongly disregarded," he said.

Lee said he would have less to do with the re-autopsy of McLain’s body and said he doubted the body would provide any new leads.

"It may confirm the manner or cause of death, but I don’t think it would provide too much else. Of course, I don’t know for sure," he said.

Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police and host of HBO’s "Autopsy" show, will perform the autopsy and look for any clues the body may offer.

Baden and Lee have agreed to take a look at the case, which remains one of the state’s most notorious unsolved homicides. McLain, a 16-year-old Schenk High School sophomore, was killed around the night of Aug. 8, 1980.

Her body was found two days later in a power line clearing about 200 feet from the school’s soccer fields. Her head and neck had been struck repeatedly with a blunt object.

McLain’s mother, Pam McLain, requested Baden’s assistance in her daughter’s case and recently a grass-roots organization, the Justice For Joyce Committee, raised more than $18,000 to cover the costs associated with the case review by Baden and Lee.

On Sunday, Lee said the case was very important to Baden, who "twisted my arm" and "called me nearly every day" until he agreed to take part in the case review.

Lee is chief emeritus of the Connecticut State Police and founder of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven, where he also oversees a national cold-case unit. Last year that unit solved 17 cold cases, Lee said.

Lee also travels throughout the world and has assisted in investigating war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia and serial killings in Asia.

Lee said it was Baden’s persistence along with a "good mix" of circumstances that led him to agree to take on the McLain case.

"First of all, Maine is quite nice. There are very nice people in Maine. Dr. Baden was very persistent and the lab, the police, everyone wants this case solved. Everyone is cooperative and helpful and that’s a very good start," he said.

On Monday, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes, who heads the attorney general’s criminal division, said he was working on coordinating schedules so that Baden and Lee could make the best use of their time while they are here.

"We don’t have a date yet of when this will occur, but certainly we hope it’s sooner than later," Stokes said. "We will certainly be cooperative and more than happy to help them out in any way possible."

Stokes said that he wanted to ensure that investigators, current and past, as well as lab personnel and medical examiner staff were at the ready when Lee and Baden could arrange to get to Maine.

"We’re prepared to give them all of the time they need," he said. "We welcome them here and hope they can help us out with the case."

Maybe Henry Lee & Dr. Baden can come up with something to put the MSP on the right track. God I hope so. It's been almost 30 years.

Maybe Henry Lee & Dr. Baden can come up with something to put the MSP on the right track. God I hope so. It's been almost 30 years.

There's always hope that something can be found. When cold cases are reviewed, it is typical for someone involved in the task to wonder if something had been overlooked. Obviously, this is why a new autopsy is being performed on Joyce's body.

Joyce McLain was exhumed yesterday.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=8920890

Sad that they had to disturb her rest....:(

but good that they might have a chance to catch her killer. :mad:

McLain autopsy reveals new evidence
Body's pristine condition surprises Baden, Lee
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN BENNETT
Forensic experts Dr. Henry Lee, left and Dr. Michael Baden answer questions about their autopsy of murder victim Joyce McLain at a press conference in Augusta.
By Nick Sambides Jr.
BDN Staff

AUGUSTA, Maine - Renowned forensic experts Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Henry Lee found new evidence Friday in the body of Joyce McLain that gives state police renewed hope for solving the teenage East Millinocket girl's 28-year-old homicide.

"Information has been gathered that they [investigators] can immediately work on," Baden said during a brief press conference held in the parking lot outside the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Friday afternoon.

"Physical evidence," Lee added.

Baden and Lee expressed surprise that the body seemed as well-preserved as McLain's coffin and vault were found to be during an exhumation held at a Medway cemetery on Thursday. When asked to grade the body's preservation on a score of 1 to 100, Baden gave it an 85 to 90.

Both declined to say much more, citing the need to keep aspects of the ongoing investigation confidential. Neither of the famous specialists nor state police spoke of imminent arrests or anything so dramatic, and the work is far from over.

Many tests remain that will take weeks to do, Lee said, and any new evidence must fit an already-massive investigation to produce enough probable cause for arrest - a formidable task.

But the evidence could provide the greatest break in the cold case since the 16-year-old Schenck High School sophomore's body was found on Aug. 10, 1980 near the East Millinocket school's soccer fields. McLain was last seen jogging nearby late Aug. 8. She had been beaten to death.

State police promised that as the tests were proceeding, detectives would be conducting interviews and looking anew for more information.

"We really want to solve this case," said Lt. Jackie Theriault, the case's supervisor.

"There is someone out there in Maine who knows what happened," said Stephen McCausland, state police spokesman. He urged anyone with information to call 800-432-7381.

http://www.bangornews.com/detail/49821.html

If the person who left this evidence has since died, they will have to dig them up, too.

One article says that letters and notes left in the casket should be examined. What, do they think the murderer wrote a confession and slipped it in with mementoes from family and friends?

What, do they think the murderer wrote a confession and slipped it in with mementoes from family and friends

Yes, i think that's exactly what they are looking for.

I think there was a case not to long ago where the killer actually did slip a confession in his victims coffin.

if memory serves me the casket was not an open one at wake nor funeral. how did letters get put inside other than those from immediate family?

if memory serves me the casket was not an open one at wake nor funeral. how did letters get put inside other than those from immediate family?

Who's to say it couldn't be a member of the immediate family or close family friend???

I watched this segment this evening. I then went on google and found a surprisingly HUGE number of articles about the latest developments in the Joyce McClain case.

It took Joyce's mother Pam 20 years to finally get permission for a second autopsy to be performed on her daughter. Here she is placing her hand on the casket after it was dug up last Spring...

http://bdnimages.sprintout.com/uploads/large/1219963869_a44f.jpg

After 28 years, the body was still 85% preserved. This led to several new clues to the investigation from DNA. They haven't been made public yet but Pam McClain says that if she were the killer or killers, she would be very nervous right now.

Here's an article that was released in May 2009 with a video...

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19430815/detail.html

Here's another video. Back in September, someone vandalized both Joyce's headstone and the cross behind the high school where her body was found.

Pam McClain believes these acts were aimed at her because she hasn't kept quiet and believes the case is close to being solved.

http://www.wcsh6.com/video/default.aspx?bcrefid=1283088280#/Unsolved%20Murder%20Victim%27s%20Headstone%20Vandalized/47477450001

Thanks for this link, great find.

It does seem counter-intuitive that both her headstone and the cross/memorial would both be randomly defaced at about the same time 29 years after her death. Also, they didn't explicitly state this but the police officer interviewed hints at feces being spread on her tombstone. Unbelievable. I wonder if her mother is correct, that they are closing in on a suspect.

May that person rot in hell, whether or not he had something to do with her death. On some level, I can understand fans who desecrate their rival's campus or the jealous kid who keys the car of the guy who stole his girlfriend. But, trampling the grave and memorial of a poor girl who was murdered at a tender age. That angers me beyond belief.

It does seem counter-intuitive that both her headstone and the cross/memorial would both be randomly defaced at about the same time 29 years after her death. Also, they didn't explicitly state this but the police officer interviewed hints at feces being spread on her tombstone. Unbelievable.

Makes you sick to your stomach, doesn't it? We live in a world with too many sick and twisted people.

I'm going to make sure to follow these stories online as they come. It seems at least 2 new articles on the investigation get posted every month. And with each one, Pam McClain believes they are getting closer to solving the case.

Thanks for the update. So, they have been terribly slow to recover evidence now that it became available (she started pushing for exhumation as soon as DNA tests became a big part of crimes) and are now being terribly slow to process and move on that evidence. Could the delay have been because they were waiting for any law enforcement at the time to be retired so they would be under less pressure for screwing up back in the day? I hope they are not waiting for all the suspects to die as well.

To deface that poor girl's headstone is terrible to say the least! But I know we're all keeping up hope that indeed this case will soon be solved!! There are just too many unsolved murders out there.

I know this sounds gross but follow me here:

Did they collect foreign DNA from Joyce's body? Is it possible to extract DNA from fecal matter? You see where I'm going on this.

I know this sounds gross but follow me here:

Did they collect foreign DNA from Joyce's body? Is it possible to extract DNA from fecal matter? You see where I'm going on this.

You're hoping the killer just provided a free DNA sample. And yes, I've heard it's possible because there can be hairs, skin cells, etc., in it.

I found a video about the exhumation. It's from last year so I'm not sure if you all have seen it already.

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=92108&catid=3

Interesting twist...

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/132393.html

Interesting twist...

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/132393.html

Very interesting that the judge would bring that up at his sentencing!

I also admire Joyce's mom's view of "persons of interest."

"That’s why I wish they [state police] would do some weeding out here. These people need some closure, too,” McLain said. “If they are not [suspects], did not kill her and know they did not kill her, imagine the hell that they are going through. I think it’s a shame. I think they [investigators] ought to weed them out and let them have some kind of a life for how many years they have left.”

I think this is all truly amazing, that her mom can keep this a top subject in the local news 29 years later. I think the killer is still in the area and I really believe he was the one who defaced her property. I can see someone getting scared, especially with the new technology that can most likely convict him today. I think it is as if Joyce had been there to help get this case solved...as her mother said, a calling from the grave to do this and the fact that the body was 85% still intact, that is amazing! I think it has something to do with the realm of beyond this physical world. Someone will soon be convicted, I am sure. Hopefully then Joyce can rest in peace and her mother will have peace of mind.

Hopefully they will be able to find something on Joyce's body that will lead them to the killer. They were able to get material from the last victim of the Boston Strangler case after 40 years, so it's a definite possibility.

I think this is all truly amazing, that her mom can keep this a top subject in the local news 29 years later. I think the killer is still in the area and I really believe he was the one who defaced her property. I can see someone getting scared, especially with the new technology that can most likely convict him today. I think it is as if Joyce had been there to help get this case solved...as her mother said, a calling from the grave to do this and the fact that the body was 85% still intact, that is amazing! I think it has something to do with the realm of beyond this physical world. Someone will soon be convicted, I am sure. Hopefully then Joyce can rest in peace and her mother will have peace of mind.

I agree with you that this is truly amazing.

I think the media coverage all these years later is due to the fact that this crime took place in a small town. East Millinocket had only 2,600 residents when Joyce was killed in 1980. A tragedy like that in such a tight knit community does not go away. The innocence of the town is lost and residents begin to wonder who they can trust. Had Joyce been killed in a big major city, I doubt she would be such a hot topic in the local news almost 3 decades later.

I like how positive Joyce's mother and the police feel over the killer(s) being caught soon. I really hope the McLain family and the town can soon get closure out of a possible conviction. The killer has been free much too long.

Look at the Martha Moxley case, which this in some respects resembles.

Just re-watched this case for the first time in awhile, and something caught my interest that had somehow escaped me before. Peter Larlee, the guy who found Joyce's body, had something rather cryptic to say during the segment:

I knew that she wasn't alive. I started screamin' her name, and after that I turned and ran home and called the police. Turned out to be a... a big part of my life that... that's really hurt me. I never expected what's happened at all.

Now obviously, this rather strange remark strongly suggests he was considered a suspect,and yet the UM segment never suggests that or pursues it at all. One person on this board said, indeed, he had been a suspect in one of the threads on this case, but gave no further details. When I searched for "Joyce McClain" AND Peter Larlee on Google, I got only two results - one was a non-starter, and the other was to a newspaper article from about the time UM announced they would film a segment about her. It is available here (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1899&dat=19881112&id=_hQgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=V2YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1201,1573055). The article talks about Larlee a little, calling him a "family friend" who had organized the group "Concerned Citizens for Justice for Joyce." Aside from that, I can find no reference to the idea he had ever been a suspect.

Is Larlee referring to just forming the group here with his strange comment that UM does not follow up on? Or was he a suspect? If so, why can I find no reference to this idea at all on the internet, despite the many pages dedicated to Joyce McLain?

Just re-watched this case for the first time in awhile, and something caught my interest that had somehow escaped me before. Peter Larlee, the guy who found Joyce's body, had something rather cryptic to say during the segment:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Larlee
I knew that she wasn't alive. I started screamin' her name, and after that I turned and ran home and called the police. Turned out to be a... a big part of my life that... that's really hurt me. I never expected what's happened at all.


Now obviously, this rather strange remark strongly suggests he was considered a suspect,and yet the UM segment never suggests that or pursues it at all. One person on this board said, indeed, he had been a suspect in one of the threads on this case, but gave no further details. When I searched for "Joyce McClain" AND Peter Larlee on Google, I got only two results - one was a non-starter, and the other was to a newspaper article from about the time UM announced they would film a segment about her. It is available here. The article talks about Larlee a little, calling him a "family friend" who had organized the group "Concerned Citizens for Justice for Joyce." Aside from that, I can find no reference to the idea he had ever been a suspect.

Is Larlee referring to just forming the group here with his strange comment that UM does not follow up on? Or was he a suspect? If so, why can I find no reference to this idea at all on the internet, despite the many pages dedicated to Joyce McLain?

Usually in investigations the person who finds the body automatically becomes a suspect till he is cleared. The discoverer sets a lot of the timeline on the case. So it is not that unusual that he would be a suspect or even interviewed several times. Keep in mind that the person who found the body does tend to have alibi problems.

He would have been suspect #1 in this case before any others.

They were able to get material from the last victim of the Boston Strangler case after 40 years, so it's a definite possibility.

Okay, this is really sick, and of course I don't know who handled either body or how they prepared them but it's surprising that much DNA would be found on a dead body. Don't they clean them and change their clothes before burial? What I'm saying is, shouldn't they identify any male funeral home employees who prepared these women, and test THEIR DNA, before determining the guilt or innocence of anyone? Unless, of course, the DNA matches a non funeral home employee who is already a suspect.

Just re-watched this case for the first time in awhile, and something caught my interest that had somehow escaped me before. Peter Larlee, the guy who found Joyce's body, had something rather cryptic to say during the segment:

Now obviously, this rather strange remark strongly suggests he was considered a suspect,and yet the UM segment never suggests that or pursues it at all. One person on this board said, indeed, he had been a suspect in one of the threads on this case, but gave no further details.

You know, I was immediately suspicious of that guy when I watched the segment. He was part of the search party, and yet he found her at a time when the search party was not searching. And just the way he spoke about Joyce and the fact that she was murdered and that he found her and how that affected him? "Turned out to be a big part in my life that's [pause] really hurt me. I never expected what happened at all". Yes, definitely suspicious.

I think sometimes UM shows clips from interviews like that because such interviewees make themselves look guilty - and UM knows it and wants to convey that to the viewer as well.

Well, I would not go that far as to say it was suspicious. I mean yes, what he said was certainly strange. However I would hope that we did not jump to conclusions off of a brief clip of an interview. My guess is this guy was investigated and his whereabouts during the time Joyce disappeared were checked. My guess is that there was nothing concrete there other than pure conjecture.

Also, Peter Larlee is still very much alive and still lives in East Millinocket. In fact he is a Captain on the local fire department to this day.

Say, I wanted to copy and paste one of the comments from an article that was linked here.

It can be found here: http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/99168.html

It was from someone who called herself (or himself) AMHI4ME. She identifies herself as someone who got interested in the case a few years ago after hearing about it, and has also taken some classes in criminology which has helped her to come up with her particular theory. I wanted to post her theory here. She says more on the site at the above link - as does Joyce`s sister, Pam, who was interviewed in the segment. Pam, however, was not too fond of some of AMHI4ME's comments and let her know it.

Anyway, here it is:

The East Millinocket Police Department missed key and crucial evidence - as well as I believe covered-up some of the case's findings - that would have found the murderer.

#1 it is a stated fact that she would run there quite often - someone could have been following her everytime she jogged and tracked her. Rapists often follow their victims for awhile or at least have prior knowledge of who or what is around them before they commit the crime. ALL criminals mostly do that.

#2 Young adults used to (and I'm not sure if they still do or not) frequent the area where she was murdered, and partied on this location several times and from my understanding many years. Maybe, just maybe this group or a few from the group (as there were a group of them from eyewitness accounts), attacked Joyce and bound her up. However I think its unjustified to say that the least - most people who party don't bring rope or trash bags to rape someone.

#3 Chance happening. Its possible that a person who had the objects that were used such as the rope was in the area and decided to go for it. This is probably the most likely of scenerios as Joyce's mother Pam has stated that Joyce never had any real relationship to speak of, and that she was a popular kid in high school. Which leads me to my final conviction:

#4 A classmate. Someone who wanted to have sex with her, and ended up raping her in the field and got scared that she was dead. Perhaps he wanted her dead - but to be open and really exclusive on this case I believe that 100% without a doubt that she knew who killed her. Whether that be a student, a friend, a neighbor or anyone closely related to he on that basis.

It all points to a student/friend. Who else would have known she was running there? Who else would have known WHERE to have been and knew the area and people well enough to make an undetected escape? If it was a student at the school and the police knew who did it, the person may have been the son of someone prominent in the community at that time that would have wanted the case to go away. Money is involved and I blame the entire community of East Millinocket for her murder.

The Maine State Police were the ones that investigated not the East Millinocket Police.

Huge news here in Maine.

BANGOR, Maine (BDN) -- Maine State Police have arrested a man in connection with the 1980 homicide of Joyce McLain in East Millinocket.

Phillip Scott Fournier, 55, of East Millinocket was charged with murder by Maine State Police and arrived at Penobscot County Jail at 12:48 p.m. Friday, a jail official said.

The chief of the state police, Col. Robert Williams, will hold a news conference at the state police barracks at 198 Maine Ave. in Bangor at 4 p.m. Friday.

Joyce McLain last was seen the night of Aug. 8, 1980, while jogging. Her partially clad body was found two days later in a clearing near Schenck High School. Her head and neck had been hit with a blunt object.

Fournier's ex-wife told the Bangor Daily News in 2009 that she believed her husband was involved.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock identified Fournier as "a person of interest" in the homicide of McLain when he sentenced him in 2009 to 6 1/2 years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Fournier was a person of interest because sometime in the early hours of Aug. 9, 1980 or after midnight on the night of Joyce McLain's disappearance he stole an oil truck and crashed into another vehicle.

The theft's timing left investigators wondering why Fournier was behaving so rashly, police said. Fournier suffered a skull fracture in the accident and was in a coma for eight days.

Maine State Police have revisited the site where McLain's body was found bludgeoned to death several times in the last couple of months. Investigators first returned to where McLain's body was found on Oct. 1. They then returned a month later and again weeks later.

Pamela McLain, who has been very vocal in advocating for more work on her daughter's homicide, worked with volunteers to get a cold case squad started. That effort led to LD 1121, a law enacted in 2015 that provides $491,662 annually to fund two state police detective positions and a forensic chemist for the three-member team tasked with tackling the state's cold cases. A case is typically considered a cold case after two years. It was not immediately clear Friday if the squad's work was related to Fournier's arrest.

State police interviewed more than a dozen suspects in McLain's death and worked thousands of hours on the case over the years.

There was no response when a BDN reporter knocked on Pam McLain's door at her home Friday afternoon.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/03/04/state-police-make-arrest-in-1980-cold-case-slaying/

http://bangordailynews.com/2016/03/04/news/state/police-make-arrest-in-joyce-mclain-homicide-case/?zone=blowout

Wow, this is pretty amazing news! I still remember Robert Stack's words in the original UM segment about how the community feared this might be their last chance to ever solve this murder. So it's awesome that they were still able to find closure 27 years after the segment aired.

Doing the math, the perpetrator would have only been about 19-20 years old when the crime occurred, so I'm anxious to hear if he had any connection with Joyce.

Wow, this is pretty amazing news! I still remember Robert Stack's words in the original UM segment about how the community feared this might be their last chance to ever solve this murder. So it's awesome that they were still able to find closure 27 years after the segment aired.

Doing the math, the perpetrator would have only been about 19-20 years old when the crime occurred, so I'm anxious to hear if he had any connection with Joyce.

Well the one of the articles linked states:

Fournier was 19 at the time of Joyce McLain’s death and knew her and the McLain family, Pamela McLain said previously.

So it sounds like he did know her. I'll be interested to hear more as this unfolds.

Ho. Lee. Cow.

I never thought this one was going to get solved. I'm VERY interested to hear more as the story develops.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Unbelievable. I can't wait to hear a reaction from Pam McLain. She had to fight tooth and nail for 28 agonizing years just to have an autopsy done on Joyce.

Now she FINALLY gets the closure she deserves.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Unbelievable. I can't wait to hear a reaction from Pam McLain. She had to fight tooth and nail for 28 agonizing years just to have an autopsy done on Joyce.

Now she FINALLY gets the closure she deserves.

Here's an article where she talks about the arrest:

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/joyce-mclains-mother-reacts-to-cold-case-arrest/68063571

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Unbelievable. I can't wait to hear a reaction from Pam McLain. She had to fight tooth and nail for 28 agonizing years just to have an autopsy done on Joyce.

Now she FINALLY gets the closure she deserves.

I'm happy for her. Too often, parents die without knowing what happened to their child. I'm glad she doesn't have to keep searching and fighting for answers anymore.

Here's an article where she talks about the arrest:

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/joyce-mclains-mother-reacts-to-cold-case-arrest/68063571

Thank you for posting that. Her reaction seems understandable. She's in shock and can't give THAT much of a response but it will happen in time.

great news. Though I don't consider a case solved until there is a conviction adn the person is behind bars

This is amazing news! Not sure if anyone noticed this or followed the link, but Peter Larlee (the man in the segment who found Joyce) just died last week:

https://bangordailynews.com/2016/03/03/news/penobscot/he-will-truly-be-missed-fire-captain-dies-in-east-millinocket/

This is amazing news! Not sure if anyone noticed this or followed the link, but Peter Larlee (the man in the segment who found Joyce) just died last week:

https://bangordailynews.com/2016/03/03/news/penobscot/he-will-truly-be-missed-fire-captain-dies-in-east-millinocket/

Wow, had he lived another week he would have seen himself freed from years under an umbrella of suspicion! This whole thing is unbelievable! :eek2:

I swear I just watched this case 3-4 days ago. Bizarro world.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/maine-arrest-cold-case-murder-jogger/

http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/arrest-made-1980-murder-joyce-mclain-n532076

Whoa. What a pleasant surprise. I did *not* see this one coming.

I seem to recall that there were a lot of out-of-towners in the area at the time, and it was theorized she was done in by one of those guys, who slipped out of the area just as easily as he slipped in. So that they were finally able to catch the perp is good news indeed.

How frustrating though that he apparently confessed so many times in the past and wasn't arrested sooner.

Wow!

Wonderful news. Every mystery can be solved. No matter how old.

I heard some talking head on NBC tonight about a cold case in Maine being solved -- perhaps needless to say, my jaw dropped when I heard it was Joyce.

Count me among those wondering why it took so long, especially when he allegedly admitted involvement years ago. I'll be watching to see how this plays out.

But meantime, how wonderful it is that we are getting closer to "Justice for Joyce".

Whoa. What a pleasant surprise. I did *not* see this one coming.



How frustrating though that he apparently confessed so many times in the past and wasn't arrested sooner.
My feelings in a nutshell. Wonder what finally got the arrest to take place all this time later. DNA?

That's pretty unbelievable that Fournier stole a truck, got into an accident and was temporarily put into a coma on the exact same night as Joyce's murder. I wonder how long it took the authorities to connect those two events together.

I'm floored by this and I'm glad that Joyce's mother Pam is still alive to see a capture. Now on to that full-circle of justice.

When Joyce's photo suddenly showed up on the screen during World News Tonight, I can't even describe how shocked I was. Imagine just sitting there staring at the television and then all of a sudden...yeah, you get my drift. It never ceases to amaze me what can transpire in some way, shape or form; it can be so mind-boggling and amazing at the same time.

I am thrilled that they finally have a suspect. Hopefully we'll hear what evidence lead to the arrest and if any more suspects will be arrested. Glad that Pam McLain and her family get to have closure in the future when her killer or killers are put away. Is Joyce's father still living? I read that the fireman who found Joyce's body died 2 days prior to the arrest. Such awful timing, as he wanted to see resolution in Joyce's murder too. God bless the survivors.

That's pretty unbelievable that Fournier stole a truck, got into an accident and was temporarily put into a coma on the exact same night as Joyce's murder. I wonder how long it took the authorities to connect those two events together.

What also gets me is that he was only 19 years old when he killed her, and he also knew Joyce and her family.

Two different sightings of him outside the high school the evening of the murder, one at 7:30 and the other at 9:00, apparently intoxicated, makes me think he might have been the main suspect from the beginning...even before all those confessions.

For anyone who wants to leave a message and flowers at her Findagrave memorial, her name was Joyce Marie McLain, 1963-1980. I remembered her case vividly, as she was born the same year as my sisters and died the year I graduated! Have often thought of all she missed and of her family spending 36 years in limbo. :rip:

What also gets me is that he was only 19 years old when he killed her, and he also knew Joyce and her family.

Two different sightings of him outside the high school the evening of the murder, one at 7:30 and the other at 9:00, apparently intoxicated, makes me think he might have been the main suspect from the beginning...even before all those confessions.

In a strange way, I wonder if Fournier's accident might had the reverse effect. Maybe at one point, investigators mistakenly believed he got into his accident and became comatose BEFORE Joyce was killed, thereby giving him an "alibi".

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/03/07/suspect-in-1980-murder-case-makes-first-appearance-in-court/

BANGOR — For 35 years, 6 months and 25 days, through grief and through sadness, Pamela McLain has waited for what comes next.

After her daughter Joyce said goodbye half a lifetime ago, the middle chapter in the story of the teenager’s killing in August 1980 will finally be drafted in a Bangor courtroom, where 55-year-old Philip Scott Fournier made his first appearance Monday to answer a charge of murder.

It was a development that McLain had long envisioned but hardly expected.

“I was speechless, and I’m a talker, I talk all the time,” McLain said in an interview at her home in East Millinocket. “I was really speechless. (Police) said, as soon as we leave here you’re going be to bombarded with press. They did get as far as the door and then I heard the house phone, ring, ring, ring.”

Fournier’s brief appearance before a judge in the Penobscot Judicial Center was a preamble to what likely will be a lengthy legal process, which will require McLain and the Millinocket community to relive the killing that has roiled the former mill town’s residents for decades.

Dressed in a yellow shirt and dark suit jacket, Fournier, who goes by his middle name, spoke only once to acknowledge that he understood the charge against him, which was announced Friday in an affidavit of probable cause.

“There is a big middle here,” McLain said. “It’s already started. There is going to be a big middle, and its going to be long and hard. And then there’s going to be an end. And I hope Scott makes some good choices for once.”

Fournier is being held without bail until his attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein, can challenge the affidavit. Speaking to reporters after the court appearance, Silverstein questioned the evidence against his client as well as the reliability of his statements, pointing to the head injuries he sustained when he crashed a stolen fuel truck hours after Joyce McLain was likely killed.

“It may explain why the state seemed to be confused in terms of how to process all the various statements he made, and why, in March of 2016, they chose to rely upon a statement made back in the 1980s … is beyond me at this point in time,” Silverstein said.

He also noted that the affidavit lacked references to physical evidence.

“If there were forensic evidence linking Mr. Fournier to this, one would imagine it would be included in the affidavit as an additional basis on which the court would make its probable cause findings,” Silverstein said.

The lengthy affidavit says police interviewed Fournier at least 22 times during the years of their investigation, first in 1980 and most recently last July 22. The affidavit described numerous conflicting stories that Fournier gave to investigators, initially confessing to the killing, then changing his story multiple times, sometimes implicating others, or claiming that McLain was already dead when he stumbled across her body.

“By appearances, there doesn’t seem to be any significant new information presented certainly in regards to Mr. Fournier’s statements,” Silverstein said.

WHAT NEW EVIDENCE LED TO ARREST?

In their news conference Friday, police wouldn’t answer the same question posed Monday by Silverstein: What evidence might they have developed that would lead them to charge Fournier now, 36 years after the victim’s death?

But McLain cast aside suggestions that Fournier’s statements, including his multiple confessions, are unreliable because of his past injuries.

“He was in the hospital for a month,” McLain said. “But when he got out and when he made his confession, that was what was. And then I think he had some afterthoughts, but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Not that he lost his mind, it was in there, and he was trying to control himself.”

Four of Fournier’s family members, including his mother and stepfather, sat in the front row of the courtroom for more than an hour before their son appeared. Fournier’s mother declined to speak to reporters after the hearing, covering her head with her coat as she left the courthouse and entered a waiting vehicle.

Although she didn’t attend Monday’s proceeding, Pamela McLain said she plans to be involved in the process going forward, and that she has formed a strong relationship with Fournier’s mother and stepfather, Anita and Wayne Powers.

“I told her, ‘You support and love your son. I support you. I’ll love and support my daughter, and I know you’ll support me. We’re in this together,’ ” McLain said.

For years, McLain has fought for her daughter’s case to be solved, sometimes clashing with the detectives assigned to investigate the slaying.

“Sometimes in a case that you think is going to be easy to solve because it’s a small town, things get a way of getting missing,” McLain said. “Evidence, talks, communication. You change detectives. Someone else is on. It gets lost in the shuffle.”

Through it all, McLain has kept a light burning for her daughter in her front porch window, a quiet reminder to the community of what is at stake.

As soon as DNA technology emerged in the late 1980s, she advocated loudly for Maine State Police to exhume her daughter’s body. But her demands were cast aside, so McLain raised the money to exhume the body in 2008 and have her daughter’s remains independently tested.

McLain was told that pathologists collected several samples that they hoped contained DNA, but she was never told by investigators whether those samples matched any suspect or revealed new evidence in the case.

LIVE INVESTIGATION, OLD WITNESSES

Joyce McLain’s killing became a touchstone for legislators, who last year approved funding for a cold case investigation squad.

Although none of the personnel hired for the squad in the past year worked on McLain’s case, Fournier’s arrest was heralded by state police Col. Robert Williams at Friday’s news conference as a landmark in the investigation. Williams said the investigation is continuing, and asked for the public’s help with information about McLain’s death.

McLain disappeared while jogging about 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 1980. Her partially clad body was found two days later behind the high school soccer fields, her neck and head struck repeatedly with a blunt object. A thunderstorm that struck while she was still missing washed away much of the evidence. Police said there was no sign of sexual assault.

At the time of her death, McLain was a 16-year-old sophomore at Schenck High School, where she was an honor student, a cheerleader, a musician and an athlete.

The affidavit filed in the case describes interviews that police conducted starting in 1980, in which witnesses told police they saw Fournier near Schenck High School on the day McLain disappeared.

One witness told police he saw Fournier and another man drinking from a bottle of hard liquor around 7:30 p.m. that night, and that they appeared drunk.

Another gave police a written statement in which she described seeing Fournier around 9 p.m. on the night of the killing, running with a whiskey bottle, and learning later that Fournier had stolen and crashed an oil truck.

East Millinocket police logs show that officers found Fournier pinned inside a crashed oil truck around 3 a.m. on Aug. 9 in Medway, and that Fournier was taken to a hospital with a concussion, fractured skull and other injuries.

MOTHER TOLD POLICE OF CONFESSION

Fournier’s mother, Anita Powers, told police in 2014 that many years earlier she had received a call from Pastor Vinal Thomas of Calvary Temple, who said her son had something to tell her. When she got to the temple, her son confessed that he killed McLain, police said.

Fournier has a lengthy criminal record dating to 1979 that includes his most recent arrest, a 2009 federal case of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor on Dec. 7, 2009, to serve 78 months in prison, according to federal court records.

Fournier was released on Jan. 6, 2015, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He was serving a 10-year term of supervised release at the time of his arrest on the murder charge in McLain’s killing.

A murder conviction in Maine is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/03/07/suspect-in-1980-murder-case-makes-first-appearance-in-court/

Her mother is quite the classy woman...to reach out to Fournier's mother and stepfather like that.

A future pedophile....shame he wasn't locked away in 1980

Out of curiosity, was it ever disclosed if Fournier was part of that softball tournament that came through town that weekend? Or possibly one of those new mill workers? These were both possible connections mentioned in the segment.

In case anyone was wondering, Philip Fournier's murder trial started today:

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/22/news/bangor/joyce-mclains-mother-speaks-of-girls-final-hours-as-murder-trial-begins/

Pam McLain testified about Joyce and the last time she saw her alive. The article says that the trial is expected to last about three weeks.

^^^ Thanks for pointing this out. This will be something to pay major attention to over the next couple of weeks. ^^^

“When I saw him coming up the walk I knew it was bad news,” she testified. “I asked him if they’d found Joyce, and he nodded his head yes. I asked him, ‘Dead?’ He nodded his head yes again. When I asked him, ‘Killed?’ He said, ‘Yes.’”

Such a simple yet incredibly heartbreaking exchange. :(

Judge Visits Murder Scene On First Day Of Trial:

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/22/news/penobscot/judge-visits-murder-scene-on-first-day-of-trial-in-joyce-mclains-death/

Defense Points To Alternate Suspects:
https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/23/news/bangor/defense-points-to-alternate-suspects-in-joyce-mclain-murder-trial/

The latest on the trial...

Family weeps as photos of Joyce McLain's body shown to judge:

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/24/news/penobscot/family-weeps-as-photos-of-joyce-mclains-body-shown-to-judge/

The defense is trying to point to alternate suspects, such as two guys who had a crush on Joyce. (I also never knew that Joyce had asked her best friend to go jogging with her the night she was killed. It's one of those what if moments...maybe things would have been different if the friend had gone with her.)

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/23/news/bangor/defense-points-to-alternate-suspects-in-joyce-mclain-murder-trial/

Hold the phone. Am I reading this correctly? This dude is proceeding with a murder trial WITHOUT a jury?

If true, that's incredibly risky on his part.....

More updates (and not all of them good - see the first four stories or so at the top of this page)

http://bangordailynews.com/topic/joyce-mclain/

I have a question for LooksLikeCRicci or anyone else with more law knowledge.

A couple days ago, the trial covered the multiple confessions that Philip Fournier made where he confessed to killing Joyce in 1981 to his pastor and both parents (see link at the bottom of this post.) After this happened, the pastor drove Fournier to a police station in another district. What's striking about this is while he confessed to striking Joyce, he claimed he did not rape her because she was having her period. That is NOT something that was ever revealed to the public. Yet the police did not arrest him that day because some parts of his confession did not match up with evidence.

One part gets really weird...

The minister said he dropped Fournier off near his home in East Millinocket and did not speak to him again.

Wayne and Anita Powers both said they were surprised when Fournier returned home because they expected him to be arrested after he confessed.

“He came in the house and said, ‘I didn’t do it, Mama,’” Fournier’s mother testified. “I was surprised to see him and very happy.”

Putting aside the fact that the pastor never spoke to him again after that day (weird) and then after that whole ordeal with that emotional confession, he pretty much says, "Just kidding," to the parents and everything is back to normal (weirder) I'm wondering if it's possible the pastor or parents could be prosecuted for not going to the East Milllinocket Police in 36 years?

The defense is praying that any confession made by Fournier can only be stemmed from his brain injury in the most perfectly timed truck crash in history - several hours after Joyce disappeared and one day before her body was found.

Here's the article...

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/26/news/penobscot/minister-parents-co-worker-testify-about-confession-to-mclains-slaying/

I have a question for LooksLikeCRicci or anyone else with more law knowledge.

A couple days ago, the trial covered the multiple confessions that Philip Fournier made where he confessed to killing Joyce in 1981 to his pastor and both parents (see link at the bottom of this post.) After this happened, the pastor drove Fournier to a police station in another district. What's striking about this is while he confessed to striking Joyce, he claimed he did not rape her because she was having her period. That is NOT something that was ever revealed to the public. Yet the police did not arrest him that day because some parts of his confession did not match up with evidence.

One part gets really weird...



Putting aside the fact that the pastor never spoke to him again after that day (weird) and then after that whole ordeal with that emotional confession, he pretty much says, "Just kidding," to the parents and everything is back to normal (weirder) I'm wondering if it's possible the pastor or parents could be prosecuted for not going to the East Milllinocket Police in 36 years?

The defense is praying that any confession made by Fournier can only be stemmed from his brain injury in the most perfectly timed truck crash in history - several hours after Joyce disappeared and one day before her body was found.

Here's the article...

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/26/news/penobscot/minister-parents-co-worker-testify-about-confession-to-mclains-slaying/

I've been following this story since I read about the fact that he's going without a jury. Again. Risky.

The whole "she was having her period" thing tells me that either he's the guy, or he was there when she was murdered. I know the defense is putting all their eggs into that second basket...

To answer your question-- no, I do not believe the pastor or his parents can be held criminally liable, unless one can piece together an argument for obstructing an investigation or willfully tampering with evidence...

Love reading all these articles...so many new details. It sounds like Fournier had a crush on her from what I was reading, and that they were in the same youth group at the church of the said pastor. I wonder if he knew her routine of the running and planned on abducting her back there, or if he was just hanging out at the fields w/ all the commotion going on. My question is, if there were so many people back at those fields at that time, how did no one hear or see anything? That's what is so interesting about this to me...streetviewing the area, it's a very very small town, so I am just curious how this happened.

To answer your question-- no, I do not believe the pastor or his parents can be held criminally liable, unless one can piece together an argument for obstructing an investigation or willfully tampering with evidence...

I had a feeling. I just figured someone should have at least told the East Millinocket Police that a confession WAS made. I understand it being hard for the parents to do but why not the pastor?

This brain injury is too convenient on his part. If it has a prayer of a chance of helping him in his defense, he's going to need proof of many other confessions that didn't end up being true.

I wonder if he knew her routine of the running and planned on abducting her back there, or if he was just hanging out at the fields w/ all the commotion going on. My question is, if there were so many people back at those fields at that time, how did no one hear or see anything? That's what is so interesting about this to me...streetviewing the area, it's a very very small town, so I am just curious how this happened.

An eyewitness account said he was seen on the high school property appearing to be drinking before Joyce even got there. But I don't think Joyce's jogging had become a routine as of yet. An article I read a couple years ago said at the time, she felt like she needed to lose a couple pounds so she would start jogging but it was only once in a while. It was nothing like the exercise routine of Tara Calico where she stuck to it religiously in the same location every day without fail. So this gives me the impression that it might have all come down to bad timing on Joyce's part.

I've done a street view and a bird's eye view of the high school. The soccer field is located behind the baseball field. And once you reach the edge of the soccer field, it's nothing but miles and miles of woods and wilderness. So even if a softball tournament had been going on at the very minute of the abduction (which was never confirmed) then I could see it being possible to grab her and run a few feet back into the woods and not be seen by anybody, provided nobody else was hanging around the soccer field at that exact moment.

The defense is taking center stage in the trial this week. Here's some of the latest articles.

'No forensic evidence links Fournier to McLain murder, experts testify'

(A few hours after Joyce was killed, thunderstorms and heavy downpours all through the night may have washed away evidence. And this happening in 1980, detectives were unaware of DNA and how it might help the case in the future.)

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/29/news/penobscot/no-forensic-evidence-links-fournier-to-mclain-murder-experts-testify/

'Insulator, rock found near McLain’s body not murder weapons, ME says'

(The measurements for the rock don't match up the wound on Joyce's skull. Ditto for the insulator which was also found near her body. In Fournier's confessions, he said he struck her with an insulator.)

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/30/news/penobscot/insulator-rock-found-near-mclains-body-not-murder-weapons-me-says/

'Defense begins calling witnesses in Maine cold case trial'

(Pretty self explanatory)

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/30/defense-begins-calling-witnesses-in-maine-cold-case-trial/

Verdict expected tomorrow.

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/20/news/penobscot/judge-to-deliver-verdict-in-1980-murder-of-joyce-mclain/

Philip Fournier has been found guilty of Joyce's murder!

http://wgme.com/news/local/maine-man-found-guilty-in-1980-slaying-of-joyce-mclain

Philip Fournier has been found guilty of Joyce's murder!

http://wgme.com/news/local/maine-man-found-guilty-in-1980-slaying-of-joyce-mclain

Excellent, that is great news!

Verdict expected tomorrow.

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/20/news/penobscot/judge-to-deliver-verdict-in-1980-murder-of-joyce-mclain/

Excellent!

I'm very happy, not just for Joyce's family and friends but for that entire community who has been haunted by this murder for so long.

Joyce was murdered six months after I was born. It's hard to imagine so many people having to deal with this for basically what equals to my entire life.

Good to hear. Since it was a bench trial instead of a jury trial, part of me wondered if the judge was not going to find the evidence strong enough to merit a guilty verdict, but it looks like she did her due diligence.

Good to hear. Since it was a bench trial instead of a jury trial, part of me wondered if the judge was not going to find the evidence strong enough to merit a guilty verdict, but it looks like she did her due diligence.

I think a jury in that case would have deliberated for maybe 5 minutes before coming back with a guilty verdict, and that 5 minutes would have just been to get coffee.

Great news!

This (https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6322001,-68.56915,3a,75y,349.39h,80.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAon3-i9m3pbnRCOZ8TGEhw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) is where Joyce was last seen alive that day. The trail to the right (first base side) is where she headed to go running. The full judgement in the case of Fournier can be read here (https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/22/news/state/read-justice-ann-murrays-full-judgment-in-the-murder-trial-of-philip-scott-fournier/).

ETA: I wonder if it's possible that Fournier had accomplices that night. He was seen drinking with a man named Leroy Spearin near the baseball fields shortly before Joyce was last seen alive. Other witnesses remember seeing Fournier and a male teenager they couldn't identify running from the fields at 9 P.M. that night. Another acquaintance says he drove by the baseball fields after 8 and saw Fournier was gone, but Spearin was there by himself. Spearin also plead the 5th at a bail hearing for Fournier (https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/21/news/state/man-charged-in-death-of-joyce-mclain-pleads-not-guilty/). If he was just with the guy that night, and had nothing to do with Joyce's murder, why plead the 5th? I think this Spearin guy was involved somehow (at the very least he knew what Fournier did) and chose to remain silent about it for all of these years. It appears that the scenario presented in the UM segment (Joyce harassed by drunk local teenagers) was correct.

I just said this in another thread, but I'd reallllly like to see Judge Murray's order/judgment.

I still have questions and I bet the actual document would help answer them.

I just said this in another thread, but I'd reallllly like to see Judge Murray's order/judgment.

I still have questions and I bet the actual document would help answer them.

Here you go: https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/22/news/state/read-justice-ann-murrays-full-judgment-in-the-murder-trial-of-philip-scott-fournier/

Hope this helps!

Here you go: https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/22/news/state/read-justice-ann-murrays-full-judgment-in-the-murder-trial-of-philip-scott-fournier/

Hope this helps!

Thank you!!

Thanks so much for posting that. It's a pretty interesting read, all 24 pages.

I can absolutely understand WHY Judge Murray made her verdict the way she did. I wasn't aware of Fournier's confession to a co-worker, made some 9 years after the murder, where he made statements that he killed her and "beat all the interviews." It's obvious that even though there was no DNA tying the insulator to Joyce as the murder weapon, the Court was convinced that the insulator was, in fact, the murder weapon. The testimony of the priest he confessed to is also very convincing, especially when combined with all the evidence before the court. I found his comment that he crashed the oil truck "to kill himself" of particular interest. Why would someone steal a truck and crash it with the intent of killing themselves? It's not airtight by any means, but I can understand where a finder of fact would draw some conclusions from such actions and statements.

When you look at the entire picture, I can see where she's reached her verdict of guilty. People have been convicted with a lot less evidence and acquitted with a lot more evidence. It will be interesting to see if her ruling holds up against the appeal process...

I do find one footnote of interest: She made a comment about how there were multiple other suspects discussed in court. She ultimately ruled that it did not dissuade her from finding that Fournier was present at the crime scene. She, however, reserved ruling on whether he acted alone. I know I've read multiple stories recently about other residents who believe Fournier did not act alone.

I think there is still more to this story...

This (https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6322001,-68.56915,3a,75y,349.39h,80.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAon3-i9m3pbnRCOZ8TGEhw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) is where Joyce was last seen alive that day. The trail to the right (first base side) is where she headed to go running. The full judgement in the case of Fournier can be read here (https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/22/news/state/read-justice-ann-murrays-full-judgment-in-the-murder-trial-of-philip-scott-fournier/).

ETA: I wonder if it's possible that Fournier had accomplices that night. He was seen drinking with a man named Leroy Spearin near the baseball fields shortly before Joyce was last seen alive. Other witnesses remember seeing Fournier and a male teenager they couldn't identify running from the fields at 9 P.M. that night. Another acquaintance says he drove by the baseball fields after 8 and saw Fournier was gone, but Spearin was there by himself. Spearin also plead the 5th at a bail hearing for Fournier (https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/21/news/state/man-charged-in-death-of-joyce-mclain-pleads-not-guilty/). If he was just with the guy that night, and had nothing to do with Joyce's murder, why plead the 5th? I think this Spearin guy was involved somehow (at the very least he knew what Fournier did) and chose to remain silent about it for all of these years. It appears that the scenario presented in the UM segment (Joyce harassed by drunk local teenagers) was correct.

According to the judge's findings, he was also acting shady af in the hours immediately after Joyce's murder (bottom of page 2 in the judgment). Definitely think you're on to something...

I do find one footnote of interest: She made a comment about how there were multiple other suspects discussed in court. She ultimately ruled that it did not dissuade her from finding that Fournier was present at the crime scene. She, however, reserved ruling on whether he acted alone. I know I've read multiple stories recently about other residents who believe Fournier did not act alone.

I think the "other suspects" were different guys the defense tried to paint as potential suspects, despite law enforcement never considering them as such.

Peter Larlee, the guy who found her body, was hinted at as being a possible suspect because he found her body before he was scheduled to meet up with a search party to look for her. He basically found her on his own time, which the defense tried to pounce on as proof that he could have done it. They also tried to paint other men who were interested in dating Joyce as possible suspects.

Here's (https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01/23/news/bangor/defense-points-to-alternate-suspects-in-joyce-mclain-murder-trial/) a local article about the defense trying to bring up alternate suspects during the trial.

For anyone interested, here's a couple more recent articles.

‘Glad to have it over’: Maine town reacts to cold-case guilty verdict (but nobody believes Fournier acted alone)

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/22/news/penobscot/glad-to-have-it-over-maine-town-reacts-to-cold-case-guilty-verdict/


How Joyce McLain’s murder finally moved from cold case to conviction (the second confession really helped)

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/03/05/news/penobscot/how-joyce-mclains-murder-finally-moved-from-cold-case-to-conviction/

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2553726.1457165648!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/unsolved-murder.jpg

Thank you for the links!

I still question how well this is all going to hold up on appeal, but like I said previously, I've seen folks convicted with less evidence and I've seen folks acquitted with more evidence...

Thanks for posting that judge's order, very interesting read and some details never disclosed on the UM segment.

My question after reading it is: Fournier made these incriminating statements in 1981, shortly after the murder. Why did the police not take them seriously then, yet he was largely convicted on them in 2018?

This link mentions that Phillip Scott Fournier was tried and convicted in 2018 of Joyce McClain's murder. Apparently over the years he confessed to the murder to several associates. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison. There are some whispers that he may not have acted alone and a motive seems to be unknown.


https://thecinemaholic.com/joyce-mclain-murder-where-is-philip-scott-fournier-now/