ALFRED — Jason Twardus’ legal team sought today to show that some of the evidence that led to his murder conviction is unreliable and that new evidence casts suspicion on someone else.

Twardus was convicted in October of murdering Kelly Gorham in 2007 and burying her body on his father’s land in northern New Hampshire.

During his three-week trial Twardus attorney Daniel Lilley sought to show that Gorham’s landlord, John Durfee, was a credible suspect and had framed Twardus. Lilley presented new evidence today that he said shows that Durfee knew Gorham was buried in northern New Hampshire before her body was found.

He also sought to show that two of the witnesses in the trial, Durfee and his wife Nancy Durfee, are unreliable and that Nancy would say anything to protect her husband.

Deputy Attorney General William Stokes said none of today’s testimony changes the “overwhelming weight of evidence” that Twardus killed his ex-fiancee.

Twardus lied about where he was when Gorham was killed and video images from New Hampshire showed he was in the area when her body was disposed of there.

11:13 a.m.

ALFRED — Jason Twardus’ quest for a new trial opened in York County Superior Court today with new evidence that his lawyers say could implicate his victim’s landlord, John Durfee.

Twardus was convicted in October 2010 of murdering Kelly Gorham, his ex-fiancee.

Twardus’ lawyer, Daniel Lilley, called Charity Camire, a caseworker with Maine Pretrial Services, who spoke with Durfee in jail in 2007 after Gorham disappeared but before her body was found.

Camire testified that Durfee told her that he believed that authorities would find Gorham’s body on land in northern New Hampshire owned by the family of an ex-boyfriend. Gorham’s body was later found on land in northern New Hampshire owned by Twardus’ father.

Lilley then called Durfee to the stand. Durfee denied, as he did during the trial, that he knew about land owned by Twardus’ father in northern New Hampshire.

During the Twardus murder trial, Lilley suggested that Durfee was an alternate suspect.

Today’s hearing on Twardus’ motion for a new trial is being heard by Justice G. Arthur Brennan and is scheduled to run through the day and possibly into tomorrow.

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