AUBURN – Accused killer Brandon Thongsavanh is due back in Maine Wednesday to await his second trial.

If Androscoggin County officials get their way, he’ll go straight to the Maine State Prison in Warren.

District Attorney Norm Croteau filed a petition in court Monday arguing that the Androscoggin County Jail isn’t equipped to house Thongsavanh, given his violent history as an inmate.

The petition includes information about Thongsavanh’s behavior at the Maine State Prison before he was transferred to Arizona last May as part of a state-to-state prisoner swap.

Thongsavanh was sentenced to 58 years in prison for the murder of Bates College senior Morgan McDuffee. He is returning to Maine as the result of an October ruling by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trail.

Thongsavanh spent about a year at the Maine State Prison before being transferred to Arizona.

During that time, he was believed to have been the “enforcer” for a small gang of inmates, and he was involved in an incident in which another inmate’s throat was slashed, according to affidavits written by Androscoggin County Sheriff Ronald Gagnon and Jail Administrator John Lebel.

His exact role in the assault on the other inmate was not specified, only that he was involved.

“I hereby certify that, upon information and belief, Brandon Thongsavanh is dangerous and that the security of the Androscoggin County Jail is not sufficient to safely house him,” Gagnon wrote.

T-shirt

Thongsavanh, 21, was convicted in July 2003 of fatally stabbing McDuffee during a street brawl between Bates students and a group of local men.

He was transferred to a maximum-security state prison in Arizona as part of a deal in which Maine agreed to exchange one of its prisoners for an Arizona inmate who was involved in a 15-day hostage standoff there.

The Arizona inmate, Steven Coy, was originally from Maine, and he demanded to be transferred here as part of the deal to set the hostages free.

Prison officials referred to the swap with Thongsavanh as a fair trade because both Coy and Thongsavanh were classified as high-risk inmates who required maximum security.

The federal Marshal’s Office is expected to escort Thongsavanh back to Maine Wednesday, so he and his lawyer can begin preparing for the second trial.

The state’s top judges granted Thongsavanh a new trial based on their belief that the jurors at the first trial could have been prejudiced by the state prosecutor’s repeated reference to an inflammatory phrase on the T-shirt that witnesses said Thongsavanh was wearing on the night of McDuffee’s death.

The phrase referred to Jesus as a four-letter derogatory term for vagina. The high court ruled that the phrase on the T-shirt had nothing to do with the alleged crime and, therefore, was irrelevant and should never have been mentioned.

New trial

Thongsavanh’s second trial is tentatively scheduled for April in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland.

It is being held there because both sides agree that the chances of picking an impartial jury in Androscoggin County are slim, given the fact that so many people have likely heard about the case.

Since Thongsavanh is now considered a pre-trial inmate, he technically belongs at a county jail.

However, in addition to arguing that the jail isn’t equipped to handle the possible dangers that Thongsavanh presents, Lebel and Gagnon pointed out that many witnesses in the case “frequent” the Auburn jail.

“There is a very real danger that Brandon Thongsavanh will have contact with some of these witnesses as he awaits his new trial, and that possibility creates a serious safety and security risk to other inmates and security personnel,” Gagnon wrote.

The ultimate decision lies with Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman. Thongsavanh can contest the county’s petition. If that happens, a hearing likely would be scheduled for later this week or early next week.

Thongsavanh’s attorney, William Masselli, could not be reached Monday.

According to the court papers, Martin Magnusson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections, has already agreed to take Thongsavanh.