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A man convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a 12-year-old girl in 1988 in Knox County will not get a new trial.
Dennis Dechaine, 67, is serving a life sentence for the killing of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry. DNA evidence in his case was retested at his request in 2022 before a hearing in April 2024 about if there was enough new evidence for a trial.
The new, enhanced DNA testing needed to show it “would make it probable that a different verdict would result upon a new trial,” under Maine law. The new testing did not show that, Superior Court Judge Bruce Mallonee ruled Thursday.
“This case is exhausted,” Mallonee said in the 23-page order. “Perhaps now the poor dead child might rest.”
New testing found incomplete DNA profiles in the six pieces of evidence, including the items used to sexually assault Sarah, her shirt and the scarf used to strangle her. When the items were found in 1988, they were removed from the woods by people not wearing gloves or other protective gear, which means the samples may have been contaminated, the court order said.
There is a correlation of DNA on the victim’s thumbnail and the scarf used to strangle her, the testing found. If there was less evidence in the case, it may be worth exploring, but the “one imprecise correlation” is not enough to reopen the case, the order said.
“This is not a close case,” Mallonee said in the order. “The new DNA evidence is weak, vague, and without practical meaning. It does nothing to undermine the old evidence that so fully supported the jury’s original verdict.”
If the case was presented to a jury again, it would have a “large body of circumstantial evidence” to consider in addition to the DNA. That evidence includes, but is not limited to, Dechaine’s truck seen near the site of the abduction, him emerging from the woods near where Sarah’s body was found, and his belongings being found in the driveway of the house Sarah was abducted from.
“The jury would be presented with Mr. Dechaine’s many admitted lies,” the order said. “Its members would note the many tiny stab wounds inflicted on the victim and also note the absence from Mr. Dechaine’s key chain — surprising to his wife — of the pen knife he routinely carried.”
A jury convicted Dechaine in 1989 of intentional or knowing murder, depraved indifference murder, kidnapping, and two counts of gross sexual misconduct. He’s filed multiple appeals over the 36 years but none have resulted in a new trial.
