AUGUSTA —A Waterville man pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering his roommate at his Cool Street home in 2024 just two days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in his murder trial.
Thomas Lowrie, 42, entered an Alford guilty plea at the Capital Judicial Center. An Alford plea enables a defendant to enter a guilty plea while maintaining innocence but has the same effect as a guilty plea.
“Guilty, your honor,” the green jail uniform-clad Lowrie responded when asked by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy for his plea to the single count of murder.
Later, after prosecutor Bud Ellis, an assistant attorney general, had described Lowrie’s actions and the evidence the state would present if the case went to trial, Lowrie said Ellis’ account of the incident “sounds about right. Sounds correct.”
Lowrie admitted to murdering Charles Bellows, 43, Aug. 18, 2024, in a plea deal that caps his sentence at a maximum of 35 years. Sentencing will follow, likely in April.
The day of the murder and Lowrie’s arrest, a detective executing a search warrant at Lowrie’s 119 Cool St. home discovered body parts in a bag. More remains, later determined to belong to Bellows, were also found in a separate bag.
Court documents state when detectives examined the dismembered remains, they saw “significant slash and stab wounds,” and they located a spear, consistent with a weapon that could have inflicted those wounds.
After asking Lowrie a series of questions Tuesday, Murphy said she was satisfied that Lowrie was of sound mind and body and his plea was voluntary.
One of his two attorneys, Katherine Randall, said she’d met with Lowrie in jail and “discussed his rights with him and I think he’s making an informed decision.”
In court, Ellis said an acquaintance of Lowrie and Bellows told police Lowrie called him to his home, and said he needed saw blades. The man said he looked into the bathroom and saw a body in the stand-up shower, which was missing at least one limb. The man left and called 911.
State police crime scene technicians found two plastic bags in Lowrie’s home containing human remains, Ellis said.
Ellis said testing of blood found in the home and on the spear found in the bag with Bellows’ upper body, indicated it was Bellows’ blood, and it matched his DNA.
An autopsy by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner determined Bellows died of sharp force injuries, with his manner of death listed as homicide.
Ellis said Bellows had numerous stab wounds in his body, including seven or eight deep wounds in his back, which he said the medical examiner indicated were the likely cause of his death.
A mental health evaluation of Lowrie was ordered in August 2024 to help determine his competency and his mental state at the time of the killing.
Dr. Robert Riley, the forensic psychologist who evaluated Lowrie, indicated he did not find anything that would make Lowrie unable to proceed with his case. He testified that Lowrie’s substance use disorder was his main diagnosis of Lowrie’s mental health.
Lowrie is being held without bail at Kennebec County jail, where he will likely remain until his sentencing.
