
Officer Frank Pellerin of the Waterville Police Department outside a house at 119 Cool St. in Waterville a day after a suspicious death was reported at the home in August. Officials later ruled the death as a homicide resulting from “sharp force injuries.” Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
After several strings of back-to-back killings and a spate of young victims, 2024 stopped just short of being the second-deadliest year in Maine since 1989.
New data compiled by Maine State Police show that there were 35 homicides in the state in 2024. The year before, state police recorded 53 homicides — the most on record — including the 18 people who died in the Lewiston mass shooting. There were 40 in 1989.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did examinations in 50 killings in 2024, but not all of them resulted in prosecution and therefore aren’t included in state police totals. That includes those who died at the hands of police. Ten people were shot and killed by law enforcement in Maine, according to a database kept by The Washington Post.
The highest concentration of homicides happened in the second half of 2024, with seven in July and six in October. A majority of the homicides came in spates of two or three consecutive cases within less than a week of each other. The state’s longest period without a killing was 39 days.
Eight of the 35 victims hadn’t reached their 20th birthdays. Police have not yet identified suspects in four killings.
DEPARTMENT DATA
Portland and Bangor recorded the most homicides in the state with five each, an especially high year for both cities, said Maine State Police Lt. Col. Brian Scott. Three killings happened in Waterville, and Bath and Mechanic Falls each saw two.
Bangor Police Sgt. Jason McAmbley said this is the highest total he’s seen in his 24 years with the department. The city didn’t have any homicides in 2021 or 2022, and had only one in 2023.
In one investigation, Bangor police detectives found that 10-year-old Braxtyn Smith had been abused for months before his death in February. His parents and grandparents were arrested later that month. They were charged with depraved indifference murder and pleaded not guilty in July.
While Maine State Police investigate most homicides in Maine, Portland and Bangor have the authority to investigate their own. McAmbley said the additional homicides are costing the department hundreds of hours in overtime while the detectives, officers and evidence technicians compile crime scene logs and investigate each case.
Last year was “a mark that we hope not to achieve anytime soon,” McAmbley said in a phone interview last week. While he is thankful for the department’s resources, he said he’d prefer if there were no killings to investigate.
Portland had also seen relatively low homicide counts in recent years — none in 2021, five in 2022 and two in 2023, according to data provided by the department.
Perhaps the biggest investigation was tied to a homicide in July that started with a fight between two motorcycle clubs. Susan McHugh, 54, died from a single gunshot wound and two others were seriously injured with skull fractures. Aaron Karp, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the case, police arrested five more suspects who they say aided in the attack and are still looking for one more.
Despite the apparent increase in homicides statewide, Portland Chief Mark Dubois said his officers will always prioritize critical cases and investigations.
“Any time we respond to a critical incident, it will certainly put a temporary strain on our resources,” Dubois said in a statement. “We are always prioritizing our resources and making adjustments to respond to new incidents, while still working on other cases.”
LOCAL RESOURCES
As a department that relies on state police to help investigate homicides, Westbrook police are still prepared to prioritize homicide cases, even if it puts a strain on their resources, said Chief Sean Lally.
“It’s just part of the job,” Lally said in a recent phone interview. “We make it work however we have to.”
The department responded to one homicide and one fatal police shooting last year. In 2023, the city saw three killings. Before that, Lally said the last homicide occurred in 2013.
Lally said with the increase in homicides, he’s noticed an increase in mental health emergencies and offenders with lengthy criminal histories. He said the criminal justice system fails to address people who are accused of violent crimes, citing overworked prosecutors, a lack of public defenders, and understaffed jails and prisons.
Then, police inherit the problem, he said.
“People like to look at the low-hanging fruit where it’s the end result, like the incident itself,” Lally said. “And the scrutiny becomes on the person who dealt with them last as opposed to the seven or eight other people who dropped the ball. … That’s a struggle we have in this society. People just want to look at the quick solution.”
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