A man accused of killing a Calais teenager in 1984 had numerous criminal convictions in the years before the slaying — and even once escaped from the Washington County Jail.
Raymond Brown, 65, of Bangor is accused of killing 18-year-old Linda Maxwell, whose body was found Aug. 25, 1984, on the shore of the St. Croix River in Robbinston in Washington County. Brown lived in Pembroke at the time of Maxwell’s death, according to the Maine State Police.
Brown was arrested Thursday afternoon in Bangor after a grand jury indicted him with murder.
Brown was convicted in five different criminal cases in the years leading up to Maxwell’s slaying, according to a criminal background check. The charges ranged from felony burglary to simple assault. Brown was also accused of rape and gross sexual misconduct twice, both in 1984, according to the Bangor Daily News archives.
Brown’s first criminal conviction as an adult was May 2, 1978, when he was found guilty of two felony counts of burglary in Washington County Superior Court. Brown escaped from the Washington County Jail in October 1977, shortly after his arrest for burglary, according to the BDN archives.
Brown and two other people created a hole in the ceiling and roof of the jail using spoons and a metal pipe. Brown and one man returned to the jail the next day, according to the archives.
In May 1982, Brown was fined $50 after he was found guilty of misdemeanor criminal mischief. He was fined $100 for a misdemeanor attempted theft in December 1982.
Brown was found guilty of a felony count of felon in possession of a firearm, misdemeanor criminal threatening and misdemeanor assault on April 22, 1983. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail for the misdemeanor charges.
Brown was also sentenced to 18 months with all but 90 days suspended for the felony charge. If Brown had served the whole 18 months, he would have been released from prison shortly before Maxwell’s death.
The last criminal conviction on Brown’s record in Maine was in June 1983, where he was found guilty of a misdemeanor simple assault and sentenced to six months, one day in the Aroostook County Jail.
A gross sexual misconduct case against Brown was dismissed in September 1984 after a grand jury did not indict him, according to the Sept. 15, 1984, edition of the BDN.
A year later, Brown was found not guilty of rape stemming from a July 14, 1984, incident in Washington County, according to the Sept. 24, 1985, edition of the BDN. A gross serial misconduct case was also dismissed in September 1985.
Brown is being held in the Washington County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon.
