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The man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend was denied bail during his first appearance in court.
Richard Thorpe, 42, is charged with intentional or knowing or depraved indifference murder in the death of Virginia Cookson, 39, of Bangor on Sept. 25. He appeared via video in Penobscot County Superior Court on Monday afternoon.
Co-workers found Cookson’s body at a Larkin Street home on Wednesday after she didn’t show up for her shift for the first time ever at the Quality Inn. Her co-workers told police they believed Thorpe was abusive, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court records.
Cookson died from strangulation in a homicide, the Maine medical examiner’s office ruled.
The affidavit, released Monday, is the first information the public has gotten about the events leading to Cookson’s death. It outlines the history between Cookson and Thorpe and the abuse he allegedly inflicted on her.
Cookson and Thorpe started dating in April and had been living together, but Thorpe had recently moved out because they had broken up, multiple people told police, according to the affidavit.
Cookson’s adult daughter called police on Sept. 20 to tell them Thorpe was yelling at Cookson and had attempted to strangle her, the affidavit said. The daughter said Thorpe was “very abusive” and had previously slammed Cookson to the ground.
Two days before Cookson was found dead, Thorpe was barred from the Quality Inn after Bangor police responded there because he was harassing Cookson at her job, the affidavit said. He confronted her, yelled at her and cornered her in a room and made her cry, her co-workers told police.
Thorpe worked as a maintenance man for a local landlord and had asked if he could stay at one of those properties on Sept. 22. He also asked to stay there Sept. 24, according to the affidavit.
Thorpe was angry at work on Sept. 23 and appeared agitated, like he was on stimulants, his landlord told police. Thorpe no-called, no-showed at his job for the first time on Sept. 25, the affidavit said.
Police tracked a cell phone they believe belongs to Thorpe. It was at the Larkin Street house multiple times during the evening of Sept. 24. It stayed at the house overnight until 4:23 a.m. on Sept. 25, according to the affidavit.
A black Subaru that looked the same as the one registered to Thorpe was seen on security camera footage leaving the house around 4:20 a.m., the affidavit said.
Thorpe listed his address as the Larkin Street house in court records.
Thorpe was arrested Friday morning in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, following a car chase in a stolen vehicle. He waived extradition and was returned to Maine on Saturday.
The seven-page affidavit did not have sufficient probable cause to arrest Thorpe for murder, his attorney Don Brown said.
Thorpe has a lengthy criminal history dating back to May 1999, including felony charges that prohibit him from possessing guns, according to his 44-page criminal record requested by the Bangor Daily News.
He most recently was charged with domestic violence aggravated assault, domestic violence assault, domestic violence terrorizing and illegal possession of a firearm on March 14, 2020. Thorpe pleaded guilty to domestic violence aggravated assault and domestic violence assault, while prosecutors dismissed the other two charges, his criminal record shows.
He was sentenced to nearly 60 months in prison on the first charge and 364 days on the second. He began his sentence at Maine Correctional Center on Jan. 27, 2021. It wasn’t immediately clear when Thorpe was released from prison and why.
The Maine Department of Corrections did not immediately return a request for information on Thorpe’s release.
Cookson is the third person to die in a homicide this year in Bangor. Braxtyn Smith, 10, died Feb. 18, after months of abuse allegedly from his parents and grandmother. Daniel Ford-Coates, 24, was fatally shot April 2, and Olivia Babin is charged with manslaughter.
Thorpe is in the Penobscot County Jail. He is scheduled for a status conference Nov. 25 at 8:30 a.m.
