Accumulating evidence in Dechaine murder case raises questions

Getting this evidence admitted is another story

By Jordan Bailey | Courier Publications | Jul 14, 2016

This is the first of a three-part series. Part 2 will look at the legal options available in this case. In Part 3, we will publish an interview with Dennis Dechaine himself.

In perhaps the most notorious criminal case in Maine history, then-31-year-old Bowdoinham farmer Dennis Dechaine was convicted in 1989 of the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 12-year-old Sarah Cherry of Bowdoin.

Crucial Testimony a Jury will Never Hear in the Dennis Dechaine Case - Interview with Dr. Cyril Wecht

In these days of contentious politics, it’s crucial for each of us to contemplate the bigger picture, that what we share in common dwarfs our differences. Take, for example, the fact that human beings are the only species on Earth with the intellectual capacity to appreciate that we are fortunate voyagers on a breathtakingly beautiful and fragile planet that orbits a long-lived star at 67,000 m.p.h., a star that is the very source of our existence.

It’s taken inconceivable happenstance to bring us to a place in time and space that allows us to benefit from and appreciate such common occurrences as sunrises and sunsets, blue skies, seas and land masses populated by myraid species, and lives blessed with the love of family and friends.