TRIAL EXPECTED TO BE HELD IN AUGUST 2020

Tue, 09/17/2019 - 7:45am

Sarah Shepherd

ROCKLAND — Sarah Richards, who is accused of killing 83-year-old Helen Carver in her Owls Head home in February 2019, appeared in court again Sept. 11 and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The plea followed a settlement conference held in Portland on Aug. 30 with Justice Bruce Mallonee, the Maine Attorney General’s Office and defense attorney Jeremy Pratt. An agreement on a plea or sentence was not reached at the conference.

Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea filed a motion Sept. 11 for Richards to undergo a forensic evaluation by the State Forensic Service.

According to the motion, the purpose of the evaluation is to determine the mental condition of the defendant with reference to issues of criminal responsibility, abnormal condition of mind, and any other issues involving her mental or emotional condition.

Justice Bruce Mallonee ordered that the examination must take place within 45 days of the court order since Richards is incarcerated. A report must be filed within 60 days of the court’s order.

The trial is expected to be held in August 2020.

Richards had pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder and theft May 28 before Justice Bruce Mallonee in Knox County Unified Court.

The settlement conference was the first hearing scheduled since the May court date.

Richards has been held at the Knox County Jail in Rockland since she was arrested by the Maine State Police Feb. 22 and charged with the murder of Carver. She made her initial court appearance in Knox County Superior Court Feb. 25.

The details regarding the investigation which led to the arrest of Richards were released March 7 in an affidavit from the Maine State Police filed in Knox County Superior Court. She was indicted March 5 by the Knox County grand jury for murder and the theft of more than $1,000.

According to the affidavit filed in court, on Feb. 21, Carver’s son, Robert, spoke with his mother by telephone for approximately 10 minutes shortly before 11 a.m. He told police that his mother informed him during their conversation that Richards had allegedly stolen her debit card. She said that she had reported the theft to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 14.

Police had obtained multiple videos of Richards using Carver’s debit card, according to the affidavit.

Witness reports and other evidence document that Richards and a man, who is not named in the police affidavit, were seen leaving Carver’s house shortly about 11:30 a.m., Feb. 21.

Richards and the man were located Feb. 22 and they admitted to police that they were at Carver’s home between 11 and 11:30 a.m. to remove snow, the report said. Police said that Richards had been employed by Carver to shovel her walkway during the winter.

She stated that when she went inside the home and spoke with Carver, Carver was still in good shape when she left, the report said. Richards said she did some small things for Carver inside of her home before leaving, like turning on her television and getting her phone for her.

Richards admitted to police that she had previously stolen and used Carver’s debit card, the report said.

She later changed her story and told police that when she arrived at Carver’s home, Carver was on the floor, dead, and that she provided lifesaving efforts before leaving the house, according to the affidavit.

Richards then told police that when she went into the home, Carver was upset that she had stolen her debit card and “came at her” so she lunged at the elderly woman and tackled her into an entertainment center, the report said. She told police that she also struck Carver in the head with a tool, not defined in the police affidavit, she had brought into the home.

The Maine Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined from an autopsy completed Feb. 22 that the cause of death was homicide caused by blunt force trauma with evidence of strangulation, according to the affidavit.

Richards has a criminal record with past convictions of theft and drug trafficking, some listed under her former married name, Sarah Stalcup.

The Maine Commission of Indigent Legal Services has preapproved the funds to appoint Attorney Logan Perkins, of Belfast, as co-counsel with Attorney Jeremy Pratt of Camden.