The Times Record, Maine Trust for Local News and WMTW have sued Bath police after they refused to reveal public records stemming from the 2024 slayings of Lisa and Jennifer Bailey.

The documents and police reports detail how law enforcement responded to a series of domestic dispute calls in the days leading up to their deaths.

“The public has a right to know how police responded to domestic calls at the Bailey home,” said Nick McCrea, editor of The Times Record. “Those details could reveal whether anything could or should have been done differently to protect Lisa and Jennifer Bailey.”

On Oct. 6, 2024, Michael Bailey shot his estranged wife, Lisa Bailey, and daughter, Jennifer “Jennie” Bailey, in the back as they fled their home. Before police arrived, he went back inside and shot himself.

Soon after, county emergency dispatch records revealed that police had been called to the address twice in one day two weeks before the shooting. The first was a report of an assault with a knife at about 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2024, and the second, just before 2 p.m., concerned a family fight.

No one was arrested in those incidents and Michael Bailey left the home for the night. A neighbor later told The Times Record that he saw police carry several long guns out of the Bailey home, but officers returned the weapons before they left.

On Oct. 2, 2024, Lisa and Jennifer Bailey went to the Bath Police Department asking to fill out statements related to the recent incidents involving Michael Bailey. An officer told them that wasn’t necessary, since they had given statements at the scene, but the women chose to write additional statements anyway. Jennifer Bailey asked to see the police report from Sept. 24, but was told they would have to fill out a public records request form. The women left without seeing the report. Michael Bailey killed them four days later.

In the wake of the killings, The Times Record filed Freedom of Access Act requests for police reports and body cam footage from the day of the shooting, as well as the two prior visits to the Bailey home. These records would reveal how police responded to the domestic calls and whether proper action was taken to protect the family.

The department initially refused to release any records, citing an exception to the public records law intended to protect personal privacy. After the Maine Trust for Local News’ attorney sent a letter challenging the refusal, the department released some records, but they were so heavily redacted that the vast majority of the documents were blacked out.

The Times Record requested the records again earlier this year, and filed the lawsuit after the latest refusal.

“The public interest in information shedding light on law enforcement’s response to domestic violence incidents ending in murder is compelling and decisively outweighs any residual privacy concerns where the victims and perpetrator are deceased,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, seeks the disclosure of all requested records, as well as attorney fees and acknowledgment that Bath police violated Maine’s Freedom of Access laws by withholding the information.

The lawsuit is being funded by the New England First Amendment Coalition, which launched a legal fund in 2025 to help media organizations cover the heavy costs of pursuing open government cases. This is the first lawsuit the coalition has agreed to support through the fund.

“As journalists, we regularly pursue every avenue we can to view public records that are being unjustly redacted or withheld,” said WMTW chief investigative reporter Norah Hogan. “Thanks to the New England First Amendment Coalition, with this grant, we are able to fully pursue the release of records that will provide greater accountability and transparency, not just for the people of Bath, but for domestic violence survivors across our state.”

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