CARIBOU

Lawyers file notice of appeal in Amity triple murder case

Attorneys for a Maine man sentenced to three life terms for killing two adults and a 10-year-old boy have filed a notice of appeal.

Thayne Ormsby was convicted in the 2010 stabbing deaths of 55-year-old Jeffrey Ryan, his 10-year-old son, Jesse, and family friend Jason Dehahn at Ryan’s home in the small northern Maine town of Amity. Jurors rejected Ormsby’s insanity defense.

The Bangor Daily News reported that the notice of appeal and application to appeal the sentence were filed late last month in Caribou.

Ormsby’s attorneys contend he didn’t understand what he was doing when he committed the murders. Ormsby told police he wanted to kill the elder Ryan because he thought the man was a drug dealer and that the others were killed to eliminate witnesses.

EDMUNDS TOWNSHIP

Game wardens locate man missing for four nights

Maine game wardens have located a man who spent two nights in his car and another two nights in an abandoned cabin after his car got stuck on a washed-out road.

Wardens managed to find Greg Burns of Machias within several hours of being told Friday night that he’d been last seen earlier in the week.

Wardens said the 51-year-old Burns told them he spent two nights in his car, which was stuck in a washout at Cranberry Brook in Edmunds Township. Then he spent the next two nights in an abandoned camp, where he found rusty cans of peas and baked beans.

Wardens said Burns was glad he didn’t have to resort to dog food, which was all that was left. He was reunited with his family Friday night.

BANGOR

Agreement by lawmakers required ending campaign

A Maine lawmaker was required to end his re-election bid by an agreement with a former girlfriend and fellow legislator who’d filed a temporary protection order against him.

The agreement also requires Rep. Alex Cornell du Houx of Brunswick to stay out of Rep. Erin Herbig’s hometown of Belfast for the next decade and allows him to visit the State House only for official business and only after giving 48 hours of notice to Capitol Police.

The agreement, reported by the Bangor Daily News, forbids Cornell du Houx, Herbig and their families from discussing the arrangement.

Herbig accused Cornell du Houx in April of stalking and harassing her after their breakup. Cornell Du Houx previously said on June 29 that an active-duty assignment in the Navy prevented him from seeking re-election.

BIDDEFORD

St. Joseph Convent sisters hosting open house today

Religious sisters at St. Joseph Convent are holding an open house to spread the word about what religious life is all about.

The Good Shepherd Sisters are holding an open house todayfor anyone who hears the calling to serve God and community or for those who simply want to learn more.

Visitors are welcome to come to a morning Mass followed by a tour, lunch and question-and-answer sessions with local sisters and those visiting from Brazil and Lesotho.

The open house is part of the Good Shepherd Sisters’ religious order’s initiative to recruit new members to keep the convent going. The number of sisters and nuns in the United States has fallen from about 180,000 in 1965 to 55,000 last year.

PROSPECT

Conservative radio host joining LePage at festival

Maine native and conservative radio talk-show show host Howie Carr was scheduled to join Gov. Paul LePage at a festival put on by the Maine chapter of the Americans for Prosperity.

Americans for Prosperity said its Economic Freedom Festival will celebrate the idea of limited government, lower taxes and freedom. The festival was to be held Saturday at Fort Knox State Historic Site in Prospect.

Carr is a well-known radio voice, author and journalist who was born and raised in Portland. Also scheduled to speak were LePage and Tarren Bragdon, CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability and former head of the Maine Heritage Policy Center.

KENNEBUNK

Investigators identify man who died off Kennebunk

Investigators have identified the 25-year-old man who died while swimming near an offshore buoy Thursday as Thomas Fergus “Tommy” McNamara.

McNamara was with nine other friends aboard a 23-foot boat about a mile off the coast of Kennebunk when he died in the early evening, according to Sgt. Danny White of the Marine Patrol, which led the search and investigation.

White said McNamara climbed up on a Coast Guard navigational buoy located seven-tenths of a mile from the Kennebunk River. Witnesses told investigators McNamara lost his footing, slipped and struck his head on the metal buoy, White said.

“(The buoy) is not very big at the top and it’s not very stable and with the water — it’s basically bobbing around in the ocean,” White said.

After striking his head, McNamara fell into the water and never resurfaced, White said.

The Coast Guard, Kennebunk Fire and Rescue and a Jayhawk helicopter crew assisted in the search. The Maine State Dive Team, comprised of members of the Maine State Police and Marine Patrol, recovered McNamara’s body near the buoy, White said.

McNamara grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Winchester High School, according to his obituary. He studied film acting and graduated from the New York Film Academy and Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, N.H. He recently lived in Kennebunk and New York City, where he was a film actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild.

— From staff and news services