AUGUSTA — Michael Young’s hands and shorts were covered with blood when police arrived at the apartment he shared with David Cox.

The two men — described as life partners by Young’s defense attorney, Pam Ames — were the only ones in the Green Street apartment when police responded to a frantic call early on June 11, 2011, from Young, who said a man had fallen onto a knife.

Young, 41, charged with murder in connection with the stabbing death, is scheduled to go on trial in December and focus his defense on denial of the crime.

“He didn’t do it,” Ames said Thursday, following a Kennebec County Superior Court hearing at which she asked a judge to keep all four of Young’s interviews with police from being brought up at trial.

Neighbors of Young and Cox said the two men argued frequently and that Young at one point told them “how he had done everything to David Cox but shoot him” to keep Cox’s outrageous conduct under control.

Young’s mother and his aunt disputed that characterization, saying the two men had been partners for about five years and seemed to get along well.

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Ames said Cox had been tinkering with Young’s bicycle and that Young only heard a “bang.”

“He sees David slumped over the bicycle. He doesn’t know what happened. He turns him over and there’s a knife sticking in his chest,” Ames said.

Ames also said Young told her he was put on hold for four or five minutes when he called for help. However, the transcript has no times listed.

Samplings from the transcript of Young’s 911 call, as provided to Ames, show Young’s desperation: “I’m holding his heart. Please save him. He’s a Mormon. He’s a good guy. He’s losing a lot of blood every second.”

Nine months later, Young was indicted on a charge of murdering Cox, 46, which he has denied consistently. He was arrested April 5 in Florida and extradited to Maine.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson has said previously that authorities don’t believe Young’s story about Cox tripping over a bicycle and falling onto the knife, and the state’s medical examiner told investigators the stab wound to the chest was not consistent with accidental stabbing.

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On Thursday, both Benson and Ames questioned two police officers who interviewed Young.

Young was interviewed by police four times, two of those on the day Cox died.

Augusta Police Officer Paul Doody testified he was one of the first at the apartment that morning, followed by Augusta rescue personnel. Doody took Young to the police station because he had outstanding arrest warrants for failing to pay fines.

The two were in a booking room for almost two hours, and Doody testified that Young repeatedly asked to go to the hospital to see Cox and demanded an attorney or a phone call to get an attorney.

Doody testified he left Young when Augusta and Maine State Police detectives arrived, and noted on his written report that Young had asked for an attorney.

Benson told the judge the state police detectives were unaware of that request when they conducted a four-hour interview of Young almost immediately afterward. The prosecutor told Justice Michaela Murphy he agreed that the interview was a violation of Young’s Fifth Amendment rights and would not be used in the prosecution’s main case at trial.

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Benson, however, stopped short of agreeing to have the interview removed entirely, as Ames is seeking.

Maine State Police Detective Christopher Tupper also testified that Young’s request for an attorney is what halted the four-hour interview, and that they waited almost a month before questioning him again.

Benson told Murphy he wants to use the July 12 and July 20 interviews of Young, saying Young was not in custody at the time and agreed to speak with investigators.

Young remains in jail in lieu of bail, which a judge set at $1 million worth of property or $500,000 cash.

He did not testify at Thursday’s hearing, although he spoke quietly with Ames.

The judge asked for final arguments in writing and gave Ames Oct. 12 to file hers. Murphy said she would rule on the suppression motion some time after that.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com


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