Charges dropped against man in machete killing in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine has dropped a murder charge against a man whose conviction for killing a neighbor with a machete was overturned.
A jury found Bruce Akers guilty in January 2020 and he was sentenced to 38 years in state prison. But the Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously last year that Akers’ rights were violated by police and that a judge should have suppressed evidence and statements gathered by officers before they read Akers his Miranda rights, the Portland Press Herald reported Monday.
The state asked to dismiss the charge because the ruling had the effect of tainting other evidence obtained in a search warrant, the newspaper reported.
“Due to suppression of evidence rulings, the state lacks sufficient evidence to proceed to trial,” the state’s motion said.
Douglas Flint, 55, was reported missing before police searched Akers’ property in the town of Limington. Investigators later found his body hidden under a pile of rotting deer carcasses and debris.
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