AUGUSTA — A jury Thursday convicted Roland Cummings of murdering Aurele Fecteau in May 2014 as the 92-year-old man slept in bed.
Cummings, 46, of Waterville, was accused of stabbing Fecteau to death, burglarizing his home and stealing two family rings. He was found guilty on all three charges.
Several of Fecteau’s family members began crying quietly as they heard the verdict, which was returned on the sixth day of the trial at the Capital Judicial Center after jurors asked to hear several pieces of evidence again.
They heard an audio recording of Cummings being interviewed by two detectives in Skowhegan on May 24, the day after Fecteau’s body was discovered.
In the interview, Cummings told police about plumbing and yard work he had performed for Fecteau, and that he had most recently stopped by his home briefly three weeks earlier, asking if he needed any work performed. But Fecteau had told him no.
In that same interview, Cummings readily agreed to provide a DNA sample, saying, “I have nothing to hide.”
Jurors also heard the court reporter read back testimony from Cummings’ ex-girlfriend, Jillian Bryant of Fairfield, about her interactions with Cummings on the afternoon and evening of May 21, 2014. She testified about selling drugs to him twice, once in Hinckley as she was dropping him off so he could hitchhike to Skowhegan, and after 11 p.m. that same day in Waterville.
The eight women and four men spent about 2 1/2 hours deliberating Wednesday and returned Thursday morning.
Cummings was indicted on one count each of murder, burglary and theft, but Murphy told jurors that if they found him not guilty of murder, they would have had to decide whether he was guilty of manslaughter. Cummings did not testify during the trial.
A forensic DNA analyst from the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory testified Tuesday to finding a mixture of both Cummings’ and Fecteau’s DNA profiles in skin cells on the turned-out pockets of three pairs of pants found on the bedroom floor next to Fecteau’s body.
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea had argued Cummings committed the crimes because he knew Fecteau had money that Cummings used to support his drug habit.Fecteau’s family members hugged each other and investigators as they left the courtroom.
“We are so very grateful to the jurors for using common sense, reason and DNA evidence in coming to this guilty verdict,” said Lorraine Fecteau of Waterville, the wife of Aurele Fecteau’s eldest son, Ernest. “We believe justice has been served.”
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