AUGUSTA — A man charged in the Nov. 13 stabbing death of his girlfriend will forgo a bail hearing.

Justin Pillsbury, 38, of Augusta, waived his right to a special bail hearing and will continue to be held without bail on a murder charge.

He is accused of killing Jillian Jones, 24, in a 32 Crosby St. apartment they were sharing with another man.

Pillsbury’s attorney, James T. Lawley filed the waiver in Kennebec County Superior Court and Justice Michaela Murphy approved it on Thursday.

Pillsbury was scheduled for a Harnish bail hearing at 9 a.m. Friday, a proceeding at which his attorneys can ask the judge to set bail. A Harnish hearing is held when the charge is what was once referred to as a capital crime, in this case murder.

Earlier this week, Lawley said both he and attorney Roger Katz were retained to represent Pillsbury.

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“This is an extremely tragic case,” Lawley said in a prepared statement. “The public is only hearing a part of the story. We are investigating the case and as more information is received, a clearer picture of what happened will start to emerge. However, it does appear that drugs and alcohol were involved.”

Pillsbury was arrested Nov. 15 upon his release from MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta. Pillsbury had been taken there for treatment of what police said were self-inflicted stab wounds.

Pillsbury’s roommate, Michael St. Pierre, told police he found Jones dead in the blood-covered bathroom of their apartment. He said Pillsbury told him that “he caught Jones talking to another man on the phone and didn’t like that and blacked out,” according to an affidavit filed in court by Maine State Police Detective Christopher Tremblay. Tremblay’s report also says Pillsbury told St. Pierre he “screwed up” and wanted to kill himself.

St. Pierre told police the knife Pillsbury used to try to kill himself was dull, so St. Pierre sharpened it for him, and Pillsbury tried again. Neighbors said they heard the couple fighting and a woman scream, but no one had reported it to police.

Margaret Greenwald, the chief medical examiner for the state, told police that Jones had three wounds, one above the left ear, one on the right side of the neck and one under the chin, according to Tremblay.

There was no mention of drugs or alcohol in Tremblay’s description of the event.

Betty Adams — 621-5631 badams@centralmaine.com Twitter: @betadams


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