A trial for an Aroostook County man charged with the fatal shooting of his live-in girlfriend is expected to start on Monday, after jury selection took place on Thursday and Friday in Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton.
Jayme Schnackenberg, 42, of Monticello is slated to stand trial for the death of Kimberly Hardy, starting at 9 a.m. on Monday in Houlton. The trial is expected to last two weeks, according to the court clerk.
Schnackenberg, who was charged with intentionally and knowingly causing Hardy’s 2023 death, is being held in the Aroostook County jail without bail. At the time of her death, Hardy was undergoing regular medical treatment for breast cancer, her family said.
Schnackenberg was arrested July 26, 2023 at his School Street home. That came the day after a Maine game warden found Kimberly Hardy’s body wrapped in plastic and hog-tied with a large rope in the woods off Harvey Siding Road about 10 miles from the couple’s home, according to an affidavit from the Maine State Police.
During a July 2023 bail hearing, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea said that according to police, Hardy was shot twice in the head. The Maine Medical Examiner’s report confirmed that there were two gunshot injuries to the back of Hardy’s head.
Aroostook County Superior Justice Stephen Nelson denied Schnackenberg bail during the 2023 hearing.
“Under the circumstances of this case, the court finds the defendant will be held without bail,” Justice Stephen Nelson said at the time.
Initially, both Hardy’s mother, Kathy Hardy, and Schnackenberg reported her missing.
On June 18, Kathy Hardy told police she had not heard from her daughter for several days and that the couple was having issues.
Shortly after Kathy Hardy contacted the Houlton Regional Communication Center, Schnackenberg also called the center to report his girlfriend missing. He told police that he had not heard from her in two days after she left their Monticello residence on foot following a dispute, according to the police report.
She was last seen in a truck at Cameron’s Market in New Limerick on June 16, 2023, according to Hardy’s family,
Her body was discovered nine days later, police said.
Schnackenberg remains in the Aroostook County Jail. If convicted, he could potentially serve the rest of his life behind bars.
