HOULTON – Jurors who convicted a man last week of killing two men and a 10-year-old boy rejected his insanity defense Thursday, meaning Thayne Ormsby now faces 25 years to life in state prison.

The jury in Aroostook County Superior Court heard two days of conflicting expert testimony about Ormsby’s state of mind at the time of the killings on June 22, 2010.

Ormsby, 23, told Maine State Police that he fatally stabbed Jeffrey Ryan; Ryan’s son, Jesse; and their friend Jason Dehahn at Ryan’s home in Amity.

Ormsby said that he wanted to kill the elder Ryan because he thought the man was a drug dealer, and that he killed Dehahn and the boy to eliminate potential witnesses.

Jurors convicted Ormsby of three counts of murder last week. Because of Ormsby’s insanity defense, they heard testimony this week that could have led to his commitment to a psychiatric hospital instead of prison. Sentencing has not been scheduled.

A psychologist testified for the defense that Ormsby was delusional at the time of the killings and that he had been abused as a boy.

Advertisement

But another expert testified for the state that Ormsby wasn’t delusional and that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said Ormsby was fascinated with killing and decided to kill Jeffrey Ryan because he thought Ryan was a bad man.

“He didn’t think Jeff Ryan was too nice of a guy, so he put his thoughts into action,” Stokes said.

Ormsby’s actions may not have been rational but they didn’t meet the legal requirement for an insanity defense. He killed the three people, burned his clothes and Ryan’s pickup truck to conceal evidence, and went to New Hampshire, where he was arrested, the prosecutor said.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.