A North Carolina man convicted of murder in Maine confessed to the shootings to his lawyers, court testimony Tuesday revealed.
Christopher Murray, 46, was convicted of murder, elevated aggravated assault and robbery for a 2017 Millinocket home invasion that killed one man and severely injured his wife. Murray was sentenced to life in prison in July 2020.
Murray, a Black man, had a post-conviction hearing Tuesday in Penobscot County. He alleges that his lawyers were ineffective and that there was racial bias during his trial.
He was one of three people charged with robbing and shooting Wayne Lapierre, 59, and his wife, Diem Lapierre in the basement of their Massachusetts Avenue home on Dec. 19, 2017. Wayne Lapierre died of bullet wounds three days later in a Bangor hospital.
Before the trial, his then attorneys David Bate and Jeff Toothaker, asked Murray what happened in the basement. The assumption was that Tony Locklear, another co-defendant who was charged and convicted, was the shooter, Toothaker said.
“We didn’t think he was the shooter,” Toothaker said of Murray.
Asking Murray what happened is something he regrets because it took away possible defense strategies, Toothaker said.
“I did ask him and I regret it,” Toothaker said. “He paused and said I shot them both. It was not the answer we expected.”
There is a possibility that Murray also said something along the lines of “it was them or me,” Toothaker said when asked by Murray’s new attorney Jennifer Cohn.
Murray said Tuesday he acted out of fear. He also testified that he drove up from North Carolina with Locklear and Locklear’s daughter, Alexis, who is Murray’s ex-girlfriend. Murray said he was worried her father might cause her harm.
Murray also said that he wanted to testify at his trial, something both Bate and Toothaker discouraged. The confession to pulling to trigger essentially ended any chance of him taking the stand.
There was also concern that if Murray testified, it would open the door for the prosecution to present evidence that showed Murray’s connection to Locklear and a different homicide in North Carolina, Toothaker said.
Murray wanted to tell what happened, Toothaker said.
Toothaker was able to speak on the witness stand about his former client because attorney-client privilege is waived for the scope of an ineffective counsel claim, according to the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar.
Cohen raised concerns about racial bias during the trial. Murray was the only person of color in the courtroom, he said. Bate and Toothaker said they questioned every juror to ensure they would not be biased.
Murray said he asked Bate about having Black people on the jury, to which he said Bate responded “What do you want me to do? Import black people here to be a part of your jury?”
Penobscot County is nearly 94% white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
During the trial, witnesses referred to Murray as a “big Black guy,” Cohen said. He is 6-foot, 3-inches and 298 pounds, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.
Bate and Toothaker did not make objections to that language during the trial.
After Murray was convicted, Bate told him that there was a possibility he would be sentenced to life in prison. During that conversation, Bate said Murray pounded on the glass separating the two of them.
Also sentenced to life in prison was co-defendant Tony Locklear, 51, previously of East Millinocket and Pembroke, North Carolina. Alexis Locklear had a limited role in the home invasion and was sentenced to time served – 375 days.
Justice Ann Murray will issue a decision in the case after written arguments are submitted by Cohen and the Office of the Maine Attorney General.
