Case Closed

The State Attorney General's Office has concluded that it would "fruitless" to reopen the case to investigate other leads following Samson's acquittal, according to this morning's Sun Journal story. Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson stated

There was no information developed during the investigation that would suggest that anyone other than Agostino Samson killed Scott Libby, and my office and the state police still strongly believe that he's guilty of murder.

He also said, regarding the acquittal,

Obviously, I was not present in the jury room during the jury deliberations, and I'm not going to second-guess their decision. Their view of the evidence was simply different from that of the state.

The family is grateful to the Maine State Attorney General's Office, the Maine State Police, and everyone involved in the investigation for their fine work, and again, all friends and family who have been supportive throughout this process. At this point, we are simply attempting to move on.

On an administrative note, I intend to leave this site up indefinitely for future reference, but this will likely be my last posting. Take care, everyone.

Jury Finds Not Guilty

At approximately 4 PM, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty of Murder as well as Not Guilty of Manslaughter. (In Maine, a murder charge includes the lesser manslaughter charge as well, so if a verdict of Not Guilty of Murder is returned, the jury still may find either way on Manslaughter.)

The family wishes to thank everyone who has expressed their support during this time.

Trial, Day 5

The jury has begun deliberations! The defense rested early in the day, closing arguments were made by both attorneys, and the final instructions given to the jury, who promptly took a lunch break, it being close to 1:00 by then. Towards the end of the day, the jury passed a note requesting to review the testimony of one of the fingerprint witnesses. Given the lateness of the hour, the judge promised that for first thing tomorrow morning, and dismissed the jury for the evening.

The evidential review will probably take about an hour tomorrow morning, and they will obviously want to discuss it afterwards, so there will almost certainly not be a decision before mid-morning at the very earliest. Of course, no one knows how long it will really go tomorrow or even beyond.

Trial, Day 4

If you hadn't noticed, I've been trying to keep these entries very matter-of-fact and free of a lot of detail, to keep them respectful of peoples' feelings and neutral of bias. More details can usually be found in the news stories I've linked to. However, today I need to make a bit of exception, due to (1) the important nature of some of the evidence that is now coming out, and (2) a major event that happened at the end of the day.

To start with, several more detectives were called to the stand, as well as a DNA analyst, who talked more about blood stain patterns and what blood and DNA evidence was found where. A fingerprint expert was also called to talk about what was found in that regard, which was little inside the car, but a key piece of fingerprint evidence was brought forward from the hostel: Samson's fingerprint with Scott's blood found on a door. (To be completely fair, it should be stated that when experts identify blood and DNA evidence, it is always with a certain probability, which is almost always less than 100%.)

At this point, the prosecution rested its case.

The defense then called a number of witnesses relating to Samson's residence and work life: The manager of the hostel, and several people from the restaurant where Samson worked: the owner, Samson's manager, and a waitress. The manager confirmed that AJ had had a disagreement with some of the other employees that night, and on his way outside to cool off for a while, punched a refrigerator. This substantiates Samson's claim for the origin of some bruises that were found on his hands.

One of the key missing pieces of evidence that has been referred to throughout the case is a blue jacket belonging to Samson, a jacket which he reportedly wore everywhere, and which has not been seen since the night in question. The prosecution theorizes that the jacket had to be disposed of, but the defense contends that without the jacket in hand, nothing can be proven about it.

The last witness today was Samson's grandmother, with whom Samson lived after he ceased residence at the hostel, shortly after Scott's death, until his arrest. She testified to helping him gather his belongings at the hostel, and pick up his last paycheck at the restaurant where he worked. At the end of her testimony, a member of the public, from the side of the courtroom where Samson's family was sitting, came forward with something in a bag. It was handed over, and revealed to be the missing blue jacket. Completely clean.

The seemingly astonished prosecution had no more questions for the witness, the jury was dismissed for the weekend with the usual instructions not to discuss the case, and court declared in recess until Monday, after which the judge requested an immediate conference with both lawyers in his chambers. We will presumably find out on Monday what all this means. We will not speculate here.

Trial, Day 3

The day started with Detective Leighton finishing his testimony, followed by that of two other detectives, a state trooper, and someone from the state crime lab, all of which involved much discussion of the evidence and how it was collected and analyzed. A nearby resident was called to testify that she and her dog awoke in the night and may have heard something.

Also taking the stand was Samson's mother.

Testimony continues tomorrow morning.

Note: Link to Day 3 Sun Journal story has been updated since it was first posted.

Trial, Day 2

Scott's mother Nancy was the first person to testify this morning, relating her brief interaction with Scott during the day and evening of Thursday, February 19. Her testimony was followed by that of a friend with whom Scott chatted by cell phone for about 45 minutes on his way to Bethel that night. Much was made throughout the day of cell phone records, correlating Scott's location with times throughout the late night and early morning.

Much of the rest of the day was taken up by lengthy testimony from the senior detective in the case, Herbert Leighton. Testimony was also heard from a resident of the area who found some of Scott's items, and one of Samson's fellow employees at a bar where he was employed as a cook.

Testimony continues tomorrow morning.

Trial, Day 1

Today opening statements were heard first from Assistant State District Attorney Andrew Benson, followed by Defense Attorney Maurice Porter. Benson painted a detailed picture for the jury of what they will show happened in the early morning hours of Friday Feburary 20, while Porter assured them that the State does not have sufficient evidence to prove his client guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt".

Testimony was first heard from the engineer and conductor of the train which slammed into Scott's car, who were obviously first on the scene, followed by the emergency medical technician, and a lengthy testimony with multiple cross examinations from the deputy state medical examiner, who performed the autopsy and answered questions about her findings.

The day concluded with testimony from Scott's friend and employer at the club in Cambridge where he worked part time, and finally from a women who happened to be driving down the road and stopping for gas at the time of the train's collision with the car.

Testimony is to resume tomorrow morning.

Trial to Begin Tuesday September 15

Jury selection for the trial of Scott's alleged killer began last Friday, and was completed this morning. The trial has been scheduled to begin at 9 AM tomorrow morning.

My intention for this site during the trial is to limit myself to brief and objective descriptions of what I know took place, either from being there myself or hearing directly from someone who was (I will not be able to attend every single day). I will also post links to major news stories, as I have done in the past. In some cases I may choose not to link to news stories which contain no new information, or which I feel are too sensational, and I will also not link to 'blog essays and other subjective web content.

Expressions of support to family and friends of Scott are encouraged as comments here or at the various memorial sites which you may find listed in the Links section.

Memorial Garden Completed

Jennifer Raymond writes:

The garden has now been established and is beautiful. Feel free to go and check it out at Windham High School. Also, feel free to add any flowers you would like to. The plaque will be added very shortly. A very special thank you to Adam Mayo is in order. His greenhouses provided all the flowers, special soil, and enriched water! He also helped me to plant the garden this morning. Thank you so much Adam! Also, I would like to thank Jasmin Nicholson for her help in planting the garden. Thank you Jas! I know a lot of you wanted to help out, but life is never perfect and we do not all have the same schedules. At least now, you all can go down whenever you want and plant at your convenience. A very special thank you also to Kerri-Lee Lampron, Danielle Newcomb, and Adam Mayo for their generous donations towards the plaque.

So enjoy everyone and I know Scott is looking down on us and thankful for such a beautiful thing in his memory.

Thanks!

Jennifer Raymond

Plant Sale, Sunday, 6/28, Raymond

A plant sale will be held in Scott's memory at the Raymond Village Library, 3 Meadow Road, on Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM. Please stop by and beautify your yard for Scott!

Update, Sunday evening: The sale was a huge success!! It sold out early, and raised over $400 for the purchase of books on gardening and landscaping for the library's collection, which will be dedicated to Scott. A big THANK YOU to all who purchased!

Scott Libby Memorial Garden

A new memorial project that Jenn Raymond is creating:

Greetings!
I would like to take this chance to let you know of the wonderful thing that is very possibly happening in memory of our dear friend. I had been thinking of a wonderful way to remember Scott on his birthday and forever more, and came up with the idea of a memorial garden at Windham High School. I e-mailed the superintendent about the idea and he thinks that it is a great idea. He is going to run it by the committee, but he thinks that they will all approve. Now I just need some of you to help me out. I need manpower and the donation of flowers. It would be great for all of us to be a part of making this amazing project a reality. I will also need donations for a plaque. The cost of this plaque will be around $60. I figure that if we all chip in $5 or something, we will get the money no problem. Let me know who can help out with this project ASAP and we will set a date.

You may contact Jenn at jferray (at) gmail (dot) com.

Samson Arraigned

Today Samson was arraigned. He was charged with murder, and entered a plea of Not Guilty. The defense lawyer made a request for a speedy trial, and a time frame of September was agreed upon, although no specific date was set.

Lewiston Sun Jounal Story

Scott Remembered in Weekly Mass in Windham

This afternoon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Windham remembered Scott in their regular Saturday afternoon mass. Scott was prayed for several times during the service, and Nancy, myself (Cousin John) and my wife Mary assisted in carrying the offering and the communion elements to the altar. Many of the congregants were familar to Nancy from her job at Wal-Mart. As always, we appreciate the public expression of support for Scott and his family. Thank you.

Samson Indicted

The Oxford County grand jury has indicted a 23-year-old Windham man on a murder charge in the death of a former employer whose body was found in his car after it was struck by a train while parked on tracks in Bethel.

Story (Lewiston Sun Journal)

Thoughts on this site

This site is entitled "Scott Libby Memorial". I have documented the initial unfolding of the tragic event which took Scott from us too soon, created the photo album, and publicized a few other relevant sites such as Jenn Raymond's touching memorial site and the online obituary text and guestbook. Although called a memorial site, my secondary purpose for the site was as a portal to publicize important information for out-of-towners, notably the memorial service. That purpose is now largely over, at least until a trial date is set, which could be some time into the future.

While I think that important new information should continue to be posted, I find myself currently wondering where to draw the line. Should I continue to post a link to every news story that appears? I doubt that every news story from here to the trial will contain information that is useful to us, Scott's family and friends. Certainly they will not all be easy to read. Perhaps I should only post links to stories that contain new information, not just rehashed from another source? Less clear is what if the information may be new, but consists mostly of distressing details or allegations which do not really contribute much to our understanding of the case? Sensationalism?

I have already made a decision on one aspect of that: I am not going to link to blog articles about the case, which by their nature tend to go beyond the strictly factual, into the realm of reaction, opinion, and even rumor. The case is beginning to lend itself to that, unfortunately, but I don't think any useful purpose is served to us, Scott's friends and family, by documenting all of it. More importantly, although we are obviously not impartial, we also don't want to jeopardize the case by appearing to be promoting a trial by public opinion, or getting involved in the politics that the case has the potential for. If you are interested in that sort of commentary, you know how to use Google.

But, what do you think about news stories? Responsible editorials? Or other purposes for this site? What do you want to know about, or expressly do not want to know about? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.

As always, thank you all for your support to Scott's family and friends during this time.

- John

P.S. I hadn't remembered I had set the comments such that only registered users could post one. I have for now set them to be open, so that anyone can comment, even anomymously. Sorry for the confusion. I will monitor them of course to prevent abuse.

New Details Released

New and distressing details have been released concerning Scott's murder. These include an official cause and method of death, and more of Samson's account of what happened. The story is in the Lewiston Sun Journal for Thursday, March 26. (The same story was also printed in the Portland Press Herald.)

Arrest made in Scott's death

State police have charged a Bethel man with killing his former employer, then leaving his body in a car on railroad tracks, where it was hit by a train.

Police charged Agostino Samson, 23, who previously lived in Windham, in the death of Scott Libby, 25, of Raymond.

For details, see news stories in the Media Links section. Scott's family is not commenting on the case.

LOCATION OF CHURCH!!

We have just realized that the automatic location given by Google Maps for the Casco Village Church is incorrect! The correct location is a few miles farther north, here. It is on Route 121, north of Route 11, between Leach Hill Road and Mayberry Hill Road.

The link in the original entry below has also been corrected.

Thank you, Karen, for pointing this out!

Make a donation

Memorial donations may be made in Scott's memory to:

Raymond Rescue
P.O. Box 741
Raymond, ME 04071

or to

The Rainbow Business Professional Association Scholarship Fund
PO Box 3442
Portland, ME 04104-3442

Obituary

From the Portland Press Herald. Comments may be left either here or on that site's guestbook:

Scott A. Libby, 25 RAYMOND -- Scott A. Libby, 25, of Libby Lane, died on Feb. 20, 2009, as a result of injuries sustained in an accident in Bethel. Born in Brunswick, on May 21, 1983, he was the son of Harlow J. and Nancy L. (Brooking) Libby Sr. Scott was raised in New Castle and Raymond, he was educated in Raymond and Windham and was a 2001 graduate of Windham High School. After graduation, Scott attended Bentley College, in Waltham, Mass., graduating from there in 2005.

From a young child, Scott enjoyed gardening; as a teen, he worked for Murley's Greenhouse in Raymond; it was there that he learned the art of landscaping. He later started his own business, Libby's Landscaping, of Raymond. In addition to running his own business, he was also employed for H&R Block, in Windham, the Paradise Club in Cambridge, Mass., and he also did private accounting for his clients.

Scott was well known around the local area for donating plants as well as his services to community organizations. He was a member and treasurer of the Farmers Market in Windham as well as a member of the Rainbow Business Professional Association, of Portland. Over the last several years, Scott was instrumental in raising money for the Association's scholarship fund through the sale of his plants. Scott was living his dream. He was predeceased by his father, Harlow J. Libby Sr. in 1995; and his step-father, Jackson P. Maynard in 2007. Maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Brooking, of Bloomburg, Pa., and paternal grandfather, Halbor Libby, of New Castle have also predeceased him.

Survivors include his mother, Nancy Libby-Maynard of Raymond; three brothers, Harlow J. Libby Jr. of New Castle, Jon Libby of Coopers Mills, and Jerry Libby of Jefferson; paternal grandmother, Vivian Libby of New Castle; and many aunts, uncles; cousins and friends.

There will be no visiting hours. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, at the Casco Village Church, 941 Meadow Rd., in Casco. The Rev. Joyce A. Long will officiate. A reception will be held at the church following the service. Memorial donations may be made in Scott's memory to: Raymond Rescue P.O. Box 741 Raymond, Maine or to The Rainbow Business Professional Association Scholarship Fund. Information may be found on their web site at: www.rbpa.org

Memorial Service

Saturday, February 28, 2009, 11 AM

Casco Village Church
941 Meadow Road
Casco, ME 04015

Reception to follow at the church.

Rest in Peace, Scott

Scott Libby was killed in a car accident in Bethel, Maine, early in the morning on Friday 2/20. His mother Nancy, his extended family, and his many friends are devastated by the loss. This blog was created by one of Scott's cousins as a place to post information for members of Scott's online community near and far. Comments will be shared with his family. We thank you all for the support that you have already expressed, and that which we know you will continue to express.

Questions, problems, and suggestions for content for this site may be sent to john (at) mainebrook (dot) com.