Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

August 9, 2012

Man admitted Westbrook stabbing, filing says

As Tareek Hendricks is denied bail, a police affidavit says he maintains that the killing was self-defense.

By Ann S. Kim akim@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Tareek Hendricks admitted to stabbing Robert Stubbs at least twice after Stubbs hit him with a bat during a dispute over giving Hendricks a ride, according to a police affidavit filed in the murder case.

Hendricks, 30, formerly of Worcester, Mass., is charged with murder in the April 21, 2011, death of Stubbs. Hendricks is also charged with elevated aggravated assault in the stabbing of Stubbs' wife, Melissa, at the couple's home in Westbrook.

An autopsy found that Robert Stubbs, 40, died of multiple stab wounds to the torso. He had eight stab wounds to the torso and legs as well as defensive wounds to his left hand, according to the autopsy cited in the affidavit.

Alleged crack cocaine activity by Hendricks, the defendant's version of the dispute with Stubbs, and details about the days after Stubbs' death are described in the affidavit submitted by Maine State Police Detective John Hainey.

Authorities' attempts to find Stubbs were unsuccessful until last month, when he was arrested in Syracuse, N.Y. When investigators told Hendricks he was being charged with murder, Hendricks asked why it was not the lesser charge of manslaughter, according to the affidavit.

"Hendricks stated he wished he had just stayed and talked to the police because he believes his actions were self-defense. ... Hendricks stated he was saving up money so he could return to Maine and turn himself in, and he looked forward to addressing these charges," the affidavit says.

Hendricks told detectives that the Stubbses were not allowing him to leave their Central Street home and that he thought they were trying to take his money. He said he didn't want to go because his laptop, cellphone and other personal items were inside.

Hendricks said he stabbed Melissa Stubbs, but only after she struck him with a chair, according to the affidavit. Melissa Stubbs said Hendricks was stabbing her husband "over and over" and that she hit him with the chair to get him away, according to the document.

On Wednesday, Hendricks appeared in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court for a bail hearing. Hendricks, who at a proceeding last week insisted that the court had no jurisdiction over him, tried to interject a number of times as the judge was speaking. Superior Court Justice Roland Cole warned him that he would be removed from the courtroom if he acted inappropriately.

Hendricks said he did not accept the not-guilty pleas that Cole had entered on his behalf last week, and that the case was a matter of self-defense. Cole said that area of law is complicated and that Hendricks should use an attorney to guide him.

Hendricks has resisted having a lawyer appointed to represent him. Cole said he was appointing attorney Randall Bates as an adviser. "You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to talk to him," Cole said.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese argued that Hendricks should remain held without bail because he is a flight risk. She said he had a lengthy criminal history that consists primarily of distributing drugs in New York and Massachusetts.

"From what the state can glean, the defendant has no ties to the state of Maine other than his drug-dealing activities," she said. "He didn't even drive a car to the state of Maine."

Cole ruled that Hendricks be held without bail because of the flight risk and the serious nature of the alleged offenses.

(Continued on page 2)

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