AUGUSTA — A Massachusetts man was ordered again Tuesday to serve 45 years in prison for the 2022 murder of his ex-girlfriend and assault of another man in Skowhegan, the same sentence that Maine’s highest court threw out last year.

Justice Jeffrey Hjelm handed down the sentence to Jason Servil, 22, during a three-hour hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta, about three-and-a-half years after Servil killed Alice Abbott and attacked Nick Rice.

Hjelm’s sentence — technically 45 years for murder and 10 years concurrent for aggravated assault, and the ordered $2,320 in restitution to the state’s victim compensation fund — matched the cap prosecutors and Servil’s attorneys agreed to when Servil pleaded guilty to both charges in January 2024. Servil could have withdrawn his guilty pleas had the sentence exceeded 45 years; Hjelm noted that would have essentially sent the case back to initial stages.

Hjelm, an active retired Supreme Judicial Court justice who did not participate in Servil’s appeal, also matched the sentence Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Mullen imposed at an emotionally charged April 2024 sentencing that ended with Abbott’s brother attempting to attack Servil.

Hjelm, however, reached his decision after conducting an independent sentencing analysis that considered a variety of factors.

“It seems to me that 45 years is within the range of sentences that’s appropriate,” said Hjelm, who called the murder a crime of “almost unimaginable brutality and violence.”

The Supreme Judicial Court last year vacated the sentence Mullen imposed and ordered a different judge to handle the case. This was done on the grounds that Mullen, on his own, obtained Abbott’s obituary and read it into the record with Abbott’s family’s permission.

Tuesday’s proceeding was moved to Augusta, which has a more modern courthouse with better security features than the Somerset County Courthouse in Skowhegan, Hjelm said. It was originally scheduled in December, but a paperwork mixup meant Servil was not brought from the Maine State Prison in Warren.

Servil, formerly of Boston, was arrested July 16, 2022, after Skowhegan police responded to 912 Canaan Road.

Servil was in a brief romantic relationship with Abbott and had been living with her and her family for a few weeks when Abbott broke up with him, prosecutors said. He discovered social media messages between Abbott and Rice, and upon seeing the two together in Abbott’s camper, attacked Rice with a crowbar and stabbed Abbott.

An autopsy found Abbott had been stabbed 99 times, 15 of them potentially fatally, prosecutors said. Servil soon after confessed to detectives.

“This was a horrific, savage attack on her,” said Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis in court Tuesday. “He basically butchered the poor young lady.”

Ellis, who sought the same 45-year sentence per the partial plea agreement, pointed to a significant degree of family impact. Several of Abbott’s family and friends read victim impact statements, some on behalf of others who were not in court.

Most objected to the 45-year sentence and asked Hjelm to impose a life sentence.

Abbott’s mother, who shares the name Alice Abbott, said her daughter was studying to become an underwater welder and planning to build rental cabins on her property. She described the younger Abbott as caring, protective, hardworking, helpful and quick to make friends. 

She also read out loud Abbott’s obituary published in the Morning Sentinel and played a short audio clip of her laughter.

“If you think four years has made me any less angry, it has not,” Abbott’s mother said. “And if you think it has made me forgiving, it has not.”

Among the other family members who spoke was Abbott’s brother Clifford Warren, who tried to attack Servil at the first sentencing hearing in April 2024.

Warren, who Somerset County prosecutors declined to charge for his courtroom outburst, was prohibited by Hjelm from attending Tuesday’s proceeding in-person and spoke via videoconference, along with his wife, from a vehicle. 

Warren reread his statement from the 2024 sentencing, speaking at length about the impact of Abbott’s death on his family. He also criticized how aspects of the case had been handled both in and out of court.

“This is a mockery of the justice system in its entirety,” Warren said.

Servil’s court-appointed attorneys, Caitlyn Smith and Jeremy Pratt, focused on Servil’s long history of mental health challenges as well as other mitigating factors like Servil’s age, cooperation with law enforcement, remorse and success in the prison’s mental health unit.

“Mr. Servil’s case is one of profound tragedy, but also one of transformation and hope,” Smith argued.

Servil’s mother and older sister also spoke, detailing Servil’s mental health challenges throughout his childhood, which appeared to have begun with an earthquake he experienced while living in Haiti and later landed him in several group residential treatment programs. 

A soft-spoken Servil read a brief statement, as he did at his first sentencing, apologizing to Abbott’s family, the community and law enforcement. He grew emotional when he first attempted to read it, and his attorneys requested a brief recess for Servil to collect himself outside the courtroom.

“I didn’t mean for any for this to happen,” Servil said. “And while I can never forgive myself, I hope you can one day find it in your hearts to forgive me. From the bottom of my heart, I’m truly sorry.”