Man found guilty of murdering ex-fiance in Bangor

A man was found guilty Monday afternoon of murdering his ex-fiance in Bangor in 2024.  

A jury convicted Richard Thorpe, 44, of murder in Penobscot County Superior Court. He killed Virginia Cookson, 39, who was found dead on the floor of her Larkin Street home on Sept. 25, 2024.

The jury’s verdict was met with a scattering of cheers from Cookson’s family and friends, followed by tears. Jurors deliberated for about an hour.

Thorpe’s trial began Tuesday morning and the jury heard from 26 witnesses. Cookson was found with bruises on her face and an electrical cord tied around her neck. 

“I’m just so happy for the family,” Assistant Attorney General Kate Bozeman said. “Virginia had a really amazing support system of family and friends. We were grateful to have them here and just so happy for them that this verdict came quickly and it was the verdict that we were all hoping for.”

About 20 friends and family sat through the whole trial. It’s a little unusual to see that many people throughout, which is a testament to what a special person Cookson was, Bozeman said.

A coworker who called 911 said that they thought Thorpe had “finally done what Virginia was afraid he would do and that he had killed her,” Bozeman said during closing statements. She added Cookson was terrified of her Thorpe to the point of “hysterically crying” and hyperventilating when he showed up to her job in the weeks before she was killed.

Thorpe’s DNA was on the HDMI cord found tied around Cookson’s neck, and his car was at her home the night she was killed. The cord, which was cut off of Cookson by Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, had her and Thorpe’s DNA on it, according to testimony.

Defense attorney Jim Howaniec said he will request a full forensic psychiatric evaluation before sentencing, especially to look into how mental health may have played a role. Thorpe has a long history of mental health issues and hospitalization, Howaniec said.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years and it’s one of the worst crime scenes I’ve seen,” Howaniec said. “I’ve seen some pretty horrific crime scenes, a very emotional case. It’s clear that the victim, Virginia, was a very much loved person.”

Cookson met Thorpe while he was on an early release from prison for domestic violence aggravated assault.

That history of domestic violence will “absolutely” be a factor in the sentence that the prosecution asks for, Bozeman said. This was not Thorpe’s first time abusing women, she said.

Thorpe is held in the Penobscot County Jail until he is sentenced on Sept. 1. There will likely be a lot of victim impact statements, Bozeman said.