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Virginia Cookson was afraid that her ex-boyfriend, Richard Thorpe, would kill her in the days leading up to her death, the Bangor woman’s daughter testified Tuesday on the first day of Thorpe’s murder trial.
Thorpe, 44, is charged with murder in the September 2024 death of Cookson. He pleaded not guilty in November 2024 and his jury trial began Tuesday morning at the Penobscot County Judicial Center.
Cookson, 39, was found strangled on the floor of her Larkin Street home on Sept. 25, 2024, with bruises and abrasions on her face and an electrical cord tied around her neck, according to Bangor police officers who responded to Cookson’s home. The cause of her death was strangulation and blunt force injury, according to the medical examiner’s report.
Maine Assistant Attorney General Kate Bozeman during opening statements presented the trial as fairly straightforward because of the evidence tying Thorpe to Cookson’s home at the time of her death.
Thorpe’s attorney, Mitch Roberge, called Cookson’s death a “terrible tragedy” during opening statements but said police did not explore all possible leads before accusing Thorpe of killing Cookson.
Thorpe’s DNA was on the HDMI cord found around Cookson’s neck, Bozeman said. Thorpe’s DNA was also found under Cookson’s nails as well as in evidence collected by a sexual assault examination, Bozeman added.
Bozeman called a slate of witnesses Tuesday, including multiple Bangor police officers, Cookson’s coworkers and Cookson’s daughter, Karmyn Cookson.
As the first witness, Karmyn Cookson said her mother didn’t feel safe in her relationship with Thorpe and wanted to end it but would not be able to safely do so.
“She was afraid he was going to kill her,” Karmyn Cookson said about a conversation she had with her mother days before her death.
Karmyn Cookson called Bangor officers to check on her mother during an argument with Thorpe on Sept. 20, she said. The couple did not show any signs of domestic violence during the check, Officer Chris Bartlett said.
Three days later, Thorpe showed up unannounced to Virginia Cookson’s work, where her boss, Jennifer Lombard, said he trapped her in a room and wouldn’t let her leave. The Bangor Police Department was called to her work, the Quality Inn at the Bangor Mall, and Thorpe was banned from the property.
Thorpe was previously sentenced to nearly five years for domestic violence aggravated assault in January 2021, but was released early, about two months before Cookson’s death. Thorpe and Cookson had been dating since April 2024.
After Cookson was found dead, Thorpe was arrested by police in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He led police on a car chase in a stolen car before being arrested, Bozeman said.
The trial will continue Wednesday.
