PARIS – A Maine man charged with sexually assaulting and killing his mother-in-law in front of his 6-year-old daughter has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

An attorney for 33-year-old Paul Orchard entered the plea at his arraignment Tuesday in Oxford County Superior Court.

Orchard is charged with killing 57-year-old Paula Nuttall in the family home in Peru on Oct. 11. An autopsy determined that Nuttall died of cardiac arrest during strangulation.

Orchard is being held without bail. The arraignment was delayed pending the completion of a mental health evaluation.

According to court documents, Orchard said he was on a “vapor high” from polyurethane fumes while treating Nuttall’s floor and does not remember anything.

Orchard’s wife, Amy Nuttall, says she feels “beyond betrayed,” and wants no contact with her husband.


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