The Case of Paula Roberts: David Willoughby
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Go to knix.com and get 15% off with promo code TRY15. That's knix.com, promo code TRY15 for 15% off life-changing period underwear. That's knix.com. This is Murder, She Told. True crime stories from Maine, New England, and small-town USA. I'm Kristen Zevey.

You can connect with me at MurderSheTold.com or on Instagram at MurderSheToldPodcast.

On a quiet country road nestled in the trees just eight miles north of the bustling streets of Augusta, Maine, sat an ice cream shop known as Summer Haven. In the early 80s, Summer Haven was a hole-in-the-wall spot that served ice cream year-round and offered travelers a quick bite for the road with pizza and sandwiches. The vinyl booths offered a place to stop and rest, and there were a few pinball and video games to pass the time.

It was December 3rd, 1983, a Saturday night around 8pm, and things were fairly quiet, but that's usually how it was in the winter. A routine day in what was supposed to be an uneventful weekend. Summerhaven kept afloat with lotto tickets and cigarette sales during the winter when ice cream sales dropped off in the colder months.

21-year-old Paula Roberts, who was a senior at the University of Maine in Farmington, was working alone while a sole customer, 19-year-old Dixon Smith, enjoyed a pizza. His back was to the counter where Paula quietly watched the clock get closer to closing by the minute. She busied herself with cleaning chores as she waited for the next customer.

Suddenly, the bell on the front door rang, interrupting Lionel Richie's all-night long. Dixon hadn't even looked up when out of nowhere he was struck on the back of the head twice with a blunt object. Hard. Lay down in the booth and do not get up, a male voice instructed. Dixon guessed there were two men in the room and followed orders. His head was throbbing.

He heard a man demand that Paula hand over all the cash in the register. Paula was a fearless and athletic young woman, and he could tell that she didn't think much of these punks. She was a fighter. She wasn't about to take verbal abuse. "If you want it, get it yourself," she quipped back. The unknown men took 36 lottery tickets and about $4,100 in cash, which is almost $12,000 today.

During the hurried scuffle, Dixon heard Paula cry out in pain and ask, "What did you do that for?" As he huddled in the booth, his head pounding and dizzy, Paula's defiant demeanor slowly started to fade. Something had changed. No matter how tough Paula was, she was no match for two big men with weapons. He heard her scream, "For God's sake, please help," as the men pushed her outside. And then silence.

The door closed, letting in a final draft of December chill. The cheerful start of Uptown Girl eerily haunted the empty shop as the red taillights to the robber's car drove away, with Paula inside.

After making a call to the police, Dixon was treated at the hospital and released. Right away, the search for Paula Roberts had begun. Over the next few days, scores of volunteers showed up to find her. On December 5th, the state police joined the effort and set up a mobile command post in Summerhaven's parking lot while the shop that doubled as the command center for the investigation was combed for clues and prints.

By December 7th, with few clues to Paula's whereabouts, the FBI joined in, and the following day, as many as 600 volunteers broke up into small teams and spread out in all directions for 20 miles, searching icy roads, woods, and campgrounds.

while the National Guard began an air search that proved to be unfruitful. Ground searchers were looking for a red bag with lottery tickets, a zippered brown money bag, and any trace of Paula herself. The state police interviewed people. Two witnesses would later testify they saw a light-colored car with headlights on backed into a parking spot with the engine running near the door.

Another witness driving by on Route 27 told the police that they saw two unknown men leaving the store who appeared to be forcing a woman into the vehicle. They described one of the suspects as quite large in height and stature. Police were working on trying to get a composite drawn up of the men in question.

UMF students were also doing their part in helping raise a reward fund for information leading to Paula's whereabouts. They'd collected more than $6,000, which is about $17,000 in today's money. Her brother Harland told the press, "We love Paula a lot, and she loves us. I will not accept anything but getting her back. I'm still sure we'll get her back. I feel whoever has her will let her go sooner or later."

But as the days turned into weeks, the family was forced to have to face the possibility of spending the Christmas holiday without her. Harlan told the Bangor Daily News, I was just thinking today if Paula were here, she'd be calling us or stopping over right about now, wanting to take my boys and Bobby's kids Christmas shopping. She was always doing something like that.

Christmas and New Year's came and went. The nights grew colder and the snow piled higher, and there was still no sign of Paula. Paula Roberts grew up in the Belgrade, Maine area and came from a close-knit, large family.

She graduated from Messolonsky High School in Oakland in 1980. It's clear from her senior yearbook that she was a high achiever and enjoyed sports year-round: field hockey in the fall, where she doubled as the varsity team manager, basketball in the winter, and then softball in the spring. She was also in the ski club, French club, the debate club, and on the student council.

Her quote in the Messolonsky yearbook provides a little insight into her sense of humor: "If Edison didn't invent the light bulb, we'd be watching TV by candlelight." While she was enrolled at UMF, she helped coach a junior varsity team at Jay High School as she was earning a degree in education, a career where Paula would have excelled. Graduation was merely months away; she was getting ready to begin her final semester.

It's clear that she was loved by her family. Paula's middle name, Marie, matched her mother, June's. There's a photo of her and her father, Lawrence, in a tight embrace included on the blog at MurderSheTold.com. His sweet smile is filled with joy and his eyes sparkle with pride. I would guess she was the apple of her father's eye.

but I don't know much about Paula Roberts. The news coverage of her case didn't reveal much about her, and I wasn't able to connect with her family at the time of recording. The small amount I was able to glean from the photos, quotes, and yearbook entries is just a small fraction of the person she was. If you knew Paula, I would love to connect with you and learn a little bit more about her and honor her life. Feel free to reach out to me at hello at murdershetold.com.

Around midnight on the night of January 6th, 1984, a little over a month after Paula's abduction, a woman named Joyce Willoughby left a message with the night crew at the Kennebec Journal. She had information about Paula Roberts. When Scott Gibson, the Kennebec Journal's city editor, arrived the next morning around 9 a.m., he sent reporter Linda Buskin to the Willoughby home to scope out the lead.

Upon arrival, Linda and another reporter were introduced to 26-year-old David Willoughby. David was afraid to talk because of his criminal record, fearing he would be wrongfully linked to the crime. But he couldn't bear to live any longer with what he knew. With the understanding that his name wouldn't go to print, David agreed to tell them his story.

On the evening of December 3rd, David drove his mother Joyce's car to a friend's home in Augusta to drink. When the beer ran out, the two unnamed friends took the car to the store to buy more, while David waited at the home.

An hour and a half later, they returned, agitated, very drunk and scared, and one of them dropped a bombshell. They robbed a store and killed a girl. David said, quote, My friend was flipping out. He was almost hysterical. He told me that he'd robbed a store and couldn't leave no witnesses. He said he couldn't leave no witnesses seven times. I tried to get him to tell me what he meant. He jumbled through it.

He had blood on his shoes. I didn't really believe it. I didn't want to. David even cleaned up blood from the backseat and windows of the car. But it wasn't until he heard the news reports the following night about Paula's abduction that reality finally settled in.

He said his friend had killed Paula because she "got smart with him," so they threw her in the car and drove off to a desolate area, walked her up a bank, and that's where they killed her. Three days later, with an idea of where the supposed body could be found, David went to see for himself. After that, he couldn't sleep. He was plagued with nightmares, haunted by what he saw and what his friend told him happened.

David's mental health deteriorated and he became suicidal. He sought psychiatric treatment at the Augusta Mental Health Institute. David insisted he had nothing to do with it. It was his drunk friends who had his mother's car. They were the ones who killed Paula, and he had been thrust into the middle of it. He wished they'd never even told him. He said, if God is my only witness, he knows I didn't do it.

The Kennebec Journal said they couldn't responsibly print a story with unsubstantiated allegations and told David that he would have to show them where the body was located. After an additional interview, David agreed and rode with the two journalists in their car to the site. They claim they didn't get out of the car to see the body, only that they saw the general area of where she could be found, and that was apparently enough to substantiate David's allegations.

When they returned to the office, they called the Attorney General, James Tierney, and said, I think we have Paula Roberts. Paula was recovered around 3.15 p.m. on Friday, January 6th, the same day David told his story. She was only 21 years old. Though the ice cream stand was eight miles out of town, her body was left in the cold December night right in the heart of Augusta.

She was partially frozen and had been left 30 feet off Gray Birch Drive, just before the entrance of Maine General Rehab and Long-Term Care. She was just over the brow of a 10-foot embankment, hidden behind some rocks. It was practically in the backyard of a nursing home that still stands there today. The bright and brave Paula was viciously and unfairly murdered. Her light snuffed out while she fought to protect herself and the shop.

She was found clothed, but her sweater had been pulled up, and her pants and underwear cut open. She suffered from blunt force trauma of multiple skull fractures and nine lacerations on her head. Her nose, teeth, and jaw were all broken, and her larynx was fractured with bruises on her throat from strangulation. Her eyes, face, neck, and shoulders were all badly bruised, with even heavier bruising on her hands and wrists.

There were stab wounds post-mortem on her thighs from cutting her clothes, and the ring finger on her left hand had been severed. It's likely the killer returned hours after her death to steal her ring. The next day, the Kennebec Journal ran a huge feature on Paula. They had the scoop of a lifetime.

Not only did they have the location of Paula's body, they had a detailed account of someone very close to what had happened, and they had it exclusively. Every other outlet covering this story referenced the Kennebec Journal by name, and would quote bits and pieces of their coverage in the days that followed.

Readers devoured the details, but everyone wanted to know, who was this tipster? And although the journalists all kept the tipster's identity a secret, he was swiftly unmasked. The police arrested 26-year-old David Willoughby the early morning of Saturday, January 7th, and David's mother confirmed that he had gone to the press the previous day. The police charged David with murder. A lieutenant from the state police said, all

All the pieces of the investigation of the last five weeks led to his arrest, suggesting that they'd already had their eyes on David. Though the huge searches for Paula were widely visible to the public, the details of the police investigation were not.

It turned out that they had already begun investigating the Willoughby family, and David's mother, Joyce Willoughby, admitted that police had temporarily impounded and examined her car. Joyce said, quote, David was worried that he would be blamed for her death. He had a criminal record and a shaky alibi for the night of Paula's disappearance, and he was right.

David was living about 15 minutes south of Augusta with his mom in sister cities Gardner and Randolph, which straddle the Kennebec River. He had been living somewhere in the south and returned to Maine in September of 1983. He had a background working as a cook, but was unemployed since his return. He had been previously married and had two children, but they'd gotten divorced, and it's not clear where or with whom his children lived.

David was a burly guy and admitted to heavy alcohol and drug use. David was later described by his defense attorney as simple, as evidenced by his poor grade school academic records.

David was scheduled to be arraigned in district court, to be later bound over to superior court. But when Maine's attorney general discovered that a grand jury was available, he quickly arraigned to have David's case presented to them. After the prosecutors explained the case against David to the jury, they found probable cause and handed up an indictment.

Tension hung in the air in the Augusta courthouse on that Monday afternoon. Through the news accounts over the weekend, public ire had been focused onto one man. Authorities feared for his safety and beefed up security at the public building. David was secreted into the courtroom through a rear entrance that was protected by armed guards. Reporters and spectators were searched with metal detectors before being permitted to climb the narrow staircase to hear the proceedings.

Once entering the crowded room, they saw David, sitting, handcuffed, flanked by state police detectives and a defense attorney, stoic and looking straight ahead in an olive drab shirt and blue jeans. Judge Donald Alexander read the charges against him. How do you plead? Not guilty, Your Honor.

Judge Alexander ordered him held without bail and returned him to the Augusta Mental Health Institute, where he had been kept shortly after his arrest on Saturday for his own safety. Before David left the courtroom, he had a request for the judge. He wanted a new lawyer. He gave no explanation, but he apparently wasn't happy with his appointed lawyer, and his request was granted.

Joyce beseeched the media to listen to her son. David told me he is not going to prison for something he didn't do, and if it comes to it, he will take his own life. Circumstantial things point to David, but if anyone just listened to him, they would know he's sincere. Joyce said that David was afraid for his life and had been threatened by the two men that were responsible for Paula's death.

Immediately following the discovery of the body on Friday, Paula's remains were recovered by the state police and transported to the office of the chief medical examiner in Augusta. The next day, on Saturday, the same day that David was arrested, the doctor released the preliminary results, multiple fractures to the head and blunt force trauma. The medical examiner said it was impossible to establish a time of death, likely due to the cold weather conditions.

The Attorney General said that more arrests were likely because officials believed that more than one person was involved. While David's legal process was unfolding, the Roberts family was laying to rest their beloved Paula.

They acted quickly. The body was found Friday, an autopsy was conducted Saturday, and a closed casket funeral was organized for Sunday. They held the funeral at a little white church in Oakland called United Baptist. The Belgrade-based family sat in the front row, and several hundred friends, relatives, and schoolmates filled the pews behind them. A fierce snowstorm battered the church during the service. The wind howled as the mourners wept.

The reverend had a hopeful message. Our prayers have been that Paula would return home. Little did we know, in our limited wisdom, that she was already home. Flowers covered the casket, and her mother said, May her memory be as fragrant as these flowers, and as lasting as the evergreen.

At its conclusion, all joined in singing Amazing Grace and paid their respects to the family before a throng of churchgoers made a caravan to Lewis Cemetery two miles away for her burial.

A gently sloping field led down to Paula's final resting place. Headstones and monuments emerged from the freshly fallen blanket of white snow, and solemn spectators traipsed down the rutted roads. Wind fluttered the ribbons on flower baskets as snow piled up on the pastor's shoulders during this final service. Paula's body was interred in the heart of winter, an unusual choice for a main burial.

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The rage against David Willoughby and his unknown accomplice was palpable, so palpable that Judge Alexander granted the defense's motion for a change of venue. This is a common legal maneuver designed to find the most impartial jury available to ensure a fair trial minimizing any predispositions from the jurors and local press coverage.

The new venue for the trial was Knox County Courthouse, quite a ways away in quaint coastal Rockland, Maine. Judge Alexander also authorized a small sum, $1,000, for David's defense attorney to hire a private investigator to conduct their own forensic analysis and explore alternative suspect theories. David was unable to afford his own defense, so it was paid for by the state.

In the same month that David was arrested, his younger stepbrother, Philip Willoughby, was charged and arrested as well. David's biological parents were Joyce and Robert Willoughby, and they had separated. His dad, Robert, had remarried, and his new wife's name was Rita, who was Philip's biological mother. Robert had legally adopted Philip, so in a legal guardian sense, Philip and David shared the same father.

Philip was just 21 years old and lived at an apartment house in Augusta, at 30 North Street, where he lived in a sparsely furnished room, sharing certain common areas with other tenants in the economical, white-sided building. Philip, like his older stepbrother, drank to excess, smoked pot, and did drugs.

On Thursday, January 26th, Philip was indicted by a grand jury, arrested at his attorney's office in Augusta at 1 p.m., and held without bail. He was taken to Kennebec County Jail, the same jail where David was now being held. They would both be held without bail for over a year waiting for their trial.

Philip, too, was arraigned in Augusta at Kennebec County Superior Court, where he pled not guilty. David and Philip faced seven identical charges, one count of murder, another count of murder by depraved indifference, three counts of kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, and one count of aggravated assault for the attack on the customer, Dixon Smith.

In May, the brothers were in the courtroom again with their attorney. He had filed a number of motions for Judge Alexander to consider. One was about money. Philip was given $500 for a psychologist and $500 for a private investigator, and David was granted $500 for an investigator. Philip also requested a gluten diet.

He was having allergic reactions to the food served in Kennebec County Jail. The judge made no accommodation and suggested they petition the county for help. The two brothers simmered in jail as the summer passed, with little reported progress. One major change did happen over the summer, though, and that was that the two men would be tried separately, not together, as initially intended by the prosecution. And up first was David.

It was Monday, October 1st, 10 months after Paula had been violently taken from her job and discarded, and David's trial was beginning in Rockland.

Over the first two days, the defense attorneys and the prosecutor whittled the large pool of potential jurors down to just 15, and its composition was predominantly female, 11 women and 4 men. Only 12 of the 15 would make the final decision, but with the length of the trial, it would be likely that the three alternates would become necessary.

On day three, Wednesday, October 3rd, the trial began in earnest. David's new attorneys told the jury that the state had the wrong guy. The real killers were David's stepbrother, Philip, and their mutual friend, Maurice Harrington. He said that David would be taking the stand himself to clear his name and explain to the jury exactly what happened on the night of December 3rd, 1983.

Prosecutor Herbert Bunker told the jury that David was one of the killers. They had evidence that would place him at the murder scene and Paula in his mother's car. Though they had no eyewitness to the murder, the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.

First, Bunker sought to establish the timeline of the night. He called a witness from Belgrade who testified that he saw two men leaving the store around 8 p.m. One of them was pushing a woman from the store. Nothing about it struck him as unusual. He was just passing by. The prosecutor then called David's mother, Joyce, to explain some key timeframes on the night of the murder.

She said that her son drove her to work that Saturday afternoon and borrowed her car, a tan 1980 Plymouth Valeri. She explained that he returned to pick her up after her shift at 11.15 p.m.

David's father, Robert, testified for the prosecution as well, his voice cracking with emotion, and said that his son had come by his apartment that afternoon and had left around 7 p.m. after an argument. That left a four-hour window that David was unaccounted for, 7 p.m. to 11.15 p.m., and Paula was taken right in the middle of that time frame.

Next came the lottery tickets. The director of the Maine State Lottery himself came to testify in trial and explained that the 36 lottery tickets taken in the robbery were cashed at several Brunswick-area stores. Those tickets were all recovered, and an FBI fingerprint expert explained that latent prints taken from the tickets were compared to David's, and they were an exact match.

The FBI expert further explained that there was an old Milwaukee beer carton found on the floor of the shop, and that too had David's fingerprints on it.

Bunker then turned his attention to the tan, two-door faux muscle car. Investigators found blood in the car and took samples. An FBI lab technician testified that there are eight types of blood found in the U.S., and when he compared the blood samples in the car to Paula's blood, he found that they were of the same type.

Hair samples were taken from the car as well. A different FBI lab technician testified that he examined those hairs and compared them to Paula, and though he could not guarantee that the hairs were Paula's, there was a very high degree of probability.

Next, Bunker called a friend of David's, Peter Cole, to testify against him. He said that David admitted to him that he was the wheelman in the robbery and murder. He said that David told him that he knew something about the ice cream stand robbery. He said that, quote, he was involved, and that the missing girl was dead and killed with a tire iron. Peter asked David if he was the wheelman, and he responded, something like that.

On cross-examination, Peter admitted that on the day David had made this admission, he was drinking heavily. He said that he had drank two or three six-packs of beer and was pretty lit. He had suffered several blackouts during the day, casting doubt on his recollection. David's attorney later told the jury, you cannot rely on a drunk with a Swiss cheese memory.

Maurice Harrington took the stand, the defense's prime suspect. His friends called him Moe. He too lived at 30 North Street in Augusta, the same apartment house where Philip lived.

First, he denied that he was involved with the robbery murder. He explained that he wasn't at Summer Haven ice cream shop that night. He was at home in the apartment house. Then he cast suspicion on David, telling the jury of a road trip that he went on with David and his stepbrother after the robbery, where he noticed that David had quite a wad of cash.

David paid for the hotel room and drinks. He asked him where he'd gotten all that money, and he laughed, saying he got fuel assistance.

He remembered while the search for Paula was going on, he asked David what had happened to the girl, and he said David replied, she's probably in the woods somewhere, and laughed. However, on cross-examination, Maurice admitted that he used to wear a jacket regularly that had an American flag sewn on its back, and that after the robbery, he'd thrown it out because it was, quote, worn out.

Defense attorney Strong was clearly intimating to the jury that the real reason Moe had chucked the jacket was because it might have evidence on it of the crime. Following Moe's testimony, the prosecutor was stunned when the defense produced three witnesses that placed Moe at the scene. Barbara Cranston, a customer at the ice cream shop just before the robbery, testified that when she left the shop, she saw two men sitting in a tan car.

She said she got a good look at one of them. She recalled him laughing at her when her truck stalled as she was leaving the parking lot herself, and she told the jury that man was Moe Harrington.

The second witness was Barbara Francis, and she said that Moe was one of the two men sitting outside the restaurant just before the robbery. The state later cast doubt on Barbara's recollection when a detective on the stand said that Barbara was unable to make a composite sketch from the face she saw at the scene and could only describe the man she saw as tall and dark.

The third witness testified that she too was there just before 8 p.m. the night of the robbery and that she was waiting in the car while her husband went into the shop to buy a pack of cigarettes. They were parked next to another car, backed in, running, with the headlights on, and the man in that car glared at her while she waited. It upset her so much that she changed seats and locked the car door.

David's attorney showed her six witness photos, and she picked out Moe Harrington from the lineup. The prosecutor objected, saying that Moe's image stood out. All the photos were in color except his, which was in black and white. Finally, the moment had come that everyone was waiting for. David took the stand in his own defense.

He spoke quietly in an almost apologetic tone. He started out by explaining the timeline of the night. He confirmed his parents' testimony, echoing the same key times. 7 p.m., he left his father's place, and he returned to his mom's work around 11 p.m.

He acknowledged that the empty packaging of beer that was found at the scene was likely from a 12-pack that he'd purchased that afternoon at a grocery store in Randolph, nearby his mom's home. He said that when he left his dad's place, he took his younger stepbrother, Philip, with him, and the two of them went back to Philip's apartment in Augusta. They met up with Moe, and they were all drinking together.

They ran out of beer between 7 and 7.30 p.m., so David let Phillip borrow his mom's car to go on a beer run. He pitched in $5 and waited for Phillip and Mo to leave the apartment house to head, he believed, to the neighborhood 7-Eleven.

He remembered that Moe was wearing a jacket with a flag and an NSKK motorcycle club emblem. To give you a sense of the character of the club, NSKK was named after the Nazi motorcycle troopers from Hitler's reign. He said that Philip was wearing brown pants and white sneakers, and it took them 90 minutes to run a five-minute errand.

Philip came back by himself. Mo wasn't with him. When he came back to the apartment house, David described Philip as real drunk, hyper, and scared. He said that he had just robbed a store, killed a girl, and left her. David saw blood spots on his sneakers. He kept saying that he couldn't leave no witnesses.

He went to pick up his mom later that night and brought her home. At first, he hadn't believed Philip, but when he caught the tail end of the 11 p.m. news, he changed his mind. The next morning, he checked the family car and found blood in the back seat. He cleaned it up and kept his mouth shut.

That same day, Sunday, December 4th, the day after the crime, David said he discovered her body. I had to know. I went to the Williams nursing home and looked around the big rock. When I saw it, I froze. I couldn't move. I got sick. I ran back to the car and went to Philip's place. I told him I saw the body. He said if I ratted, I'd be killed by Moe.

David said Philip gave him an envelope of lottery tickets taken from Summerhaven to keep his mouth shut. On Monday, he went to Brunswick to cash them. I was paranoid. I was threatened by Philip. I didn't know what to do. I was depressed and I just didn't know what to do. I stayed inside all the time.

He later went with Moe and Phillip to North Conway, New Hampshire, a ski resort town a few hours away, where Phillip admitted to the crime to him again at the motel where they were staying. She shouldn't have given me guff and I wouldn't have killed her, Phillip said.

Finally, David Willoughby admitted to the jury that he could understand how they might think he was involved, especially with his criminal history. He had been convicted of three burglaries, one forgery, and one theft. But he said he feared that his record would send him back to jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He acknowledged that he profited off the robbery by spending the money and cashing the lottery tickets, and that he'd failed to notify authorities of the crime and the location of the body. But he was innocent. David's testimony was bolstered by two doctors that met with David in the week leading up to his meeting with the Kennebec Journal. He had checked himself into the Kennebec Valley Mental Health Clinic because he felt despair about his situation, and his mom thought he was apt to hurt himself.

He stayed for six nights and seven days between there and the Augusta Mental Health Institute. During his inpatient treatment, he met with two psychiatrists and explained his hopeless predicament. They both said that he was extremely depressed and he did have a history of suicidal gestures.

They confirmed that he relayed the same story about letting Philip and Mo borrow his mom's car and that he was afraid that if he came forward with the truth, that he would be killed by either Philip, Mo, or someone else in Mo's motorcycle gang.

To corroborate David's claim, another resident of the apartment house at 30 North Street testified to establish an alibi for him. Catherine Bloomberg said that she had seen David at the apartment house a little after 8 p.m. on the night of the robbery. She recognized him because of his previous visits. She was walking downstairs to the bathroom to wash her hair, and she saw David walking upstairs to the third floor.

She remembered the time because TJ Hooker had just started on television. She remembered the date because it was the night that she met her fiancé, George, who was an inmate, and the defense confirmed with jail records that the weekend of the 3rd was the only weekend he was out of prison in December. She said that she knew David was arrested for the crime, but never contacted the police with the information. She said it was some time before she made the connection, and when she did, she

she called David's mom. She said she wasn't sure if it was that same weekend or not, but after the jail records were produced, she was convinced. The prosecutor, dumbfounded and flummoxed, said to the jury, I don't think Catherine is lying, but I do think her memory is inaccurate.

To corroborate Catherine's alibi, Gene Lasusi, another resident of 30 North, recalled that he had walked with Catherine that evening to a neighbor's house shortly after 8 p.m., where she met her future fiancé.

Jean added that Moe Harrington was very violent and loud when he and Philip would drink together. He, too, said that Moe's appearance changed the following night of the murder. He no longer wore the Nazi Biker Club jacket, nor did he wear his hair in a ponytail. He also remembered Moe with a wad of $50 and $100 bills that he estimated to be between $1,500 and $1,800.

The prosecution called a rebuttal witness, a detective from the Maine State Police. He said that he checked Moe's fingerprints against all latent prints discovered at the scene, and none of them were a match. But on cross-examination, the detective admitted that the comparison hadn't been made until the day prior, showcasing the tunnel vision of the investigation on David.

In closing arguments, the defense summarized for the jury the arguments for David's innocence. There were three witnesses that placed Moe at the scene and one witness that placed David at the apartment house. Plus, David took the stand in his own defense and explained the reasons his fingerprints were found on the beer carton and the lotto tickets.

And the defense pointed out that they didn't have to prove David's innocence. It was the prosecution's job to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And Moe Harrington was that reasonable doubt.

The prosecution pointed to David's long history of similar crimes, five previous convictions for different types of stealing, not to mention the pending charge that had been postponed until after the murder trial. His fingerprints were found at the scene unlike Moe Harrington's. He even admitted to cleaning up the blood from the car.

Why had it taken him a month to come forward with information about the body and the crime? And what about his vacation with Philip and Mo to New Hampshire just days after the murder? And how did he end up with the money and proceeds from a crime that he didn't commit?

After just two hours of deliberation, the nine-day trial had come to its climax. The jury had reached a unanimous verdict. They filed into the courtroom, and the jury foreman, Paula Higgins of Camden, stood ready to break the news that would either set David free or send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Court clerk Susan Simmons read each of the charges. Murder, robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault. And for each charge, Paula answered in a clear, strong voice, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. David was set free. David slumped in his chair and uttered a sigh of relief.

A cordon of sheriff's deputies whisked him out the back door and held him for his own protection. The case had ignited passions in the area, and officials feared that an acquittal might inspire some vigilante justice. When he arrived at the Maine State Prison, reporters were waiting to hear his reaction.

First, he expressed sympathy to the Roberts family, saying that he was very sorry and that Paula's death was a senseless one. David had spent nearly a year in jail, and he said that his cell had been set on fire and his life was made a lot harder through the process, but that he was pleased with the verdict and glad it was finally over. He said, My nerves are shot. I have a lot of regrets. I lost my fiancé. I lost my father when he took sides with Phil.

It's too bad. I want to thank the people who stood by me, including my mother, Joyce, and the mother of my ex-fiancé. He said he didn't hate anyone, and he understood the process.

Quote, I didn't believe in the system before. Now, I'm a believer. If I had to do it again, I would have reported it to the police a lot earlier. Now, I'd go right to the police. But because of my police record, I didn't know how to handle it. I handled it poorly. But now, I'm free.

He wanted to try to pick up the pieces of his life again and try someplace new. He said, Maine will be like the past to me and left the reporters with these parting words, the truth shall set you free. ♪

If David was innocent, then who is responsible for the murder? Was it Moe and Philip, like he said? Would he testify against his brother? Would Paula's killer finally be brought to justice? Join me next week for the conclusion of the Paula Roberts story.

I want to thank you so much for listening. I'm so grateful that you chose to tune in and I couldn't be here without you. Thank you. If you want to support and contribute to the show, there's a link in the show notes with options. Leaving a nice review or telling a friend is a great way to support too. You can connect with me on Facebook or Instagram at Murder She Told Podcast. A detailed list of sources can be found on the blog at MurderSheTold.com linked in the show notes.

Thank you to Byron Willis for his research and writing support. If you would like to make a suggestion for a future episode or a correction, feel free to reach out to me at hello at murdershetold.com. My only hope is that I've honored your stories and keeping the names of your family and friends alive. I'm Kristen Sevey, and this is Murder, She Told. Thank you for listening.