HOULTON, Maine — The sentencing of a Presque Isle man found guilty of a 2019 double murder in Castle Hill has been delayed.
Bobby Nightingale was originally scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning by Superior Court Justice Stephen Nelson at the Houlton District Courthouse. But a person associated with the defense team has a COVID-19 infection, postponing the sentencing, according to Leanne Robbin of the state attorney general’s office.
This marks the second time in as many days that a court procedure related to murder cases was postponed due to COVID-19.
The murder trial of Maddox Williams’ mother was put on hold for the week in Waldo Judicial Center in Belfast after a prosecutor tested positive for COVID-19. Jessica Trefethen, 36, of Stockton Springs is charged with depraved indifference murder in the death of her 3-year-old son in June 2021.
A conference between the prosecution, defense and the court in Nightingale’s case will take place on Friday to reschedule the sentencing.
In August, a 12-member jury found Nightingale guilty of murdering Roger Ellis, 51, and Allen Curtis, 25, of Castle Hill, who were found shot to death in Ellis’ 2007 red Silverado pickup truck on Aug. 13, 2019.
Nightingale, 40, pleaded not guilty to the murder charges in October 2019 after being indicted by an Aroostook County grand jury. Nightingale remains in police custody in a facility in southern Maine, according to Sheriff Shawn Gillen.