AUBURN – When James McManus was pulled from the trunk of his car, he was dressed in pajama pants and a plaid shirt. His backbone was split and his skull was shattered.
The state’s medical examiner concluded he was still alive when the wheel of his own car rolled over his head and chest.
Who was driving McManus’ Buick sedan in the early morning hours of March 10, 2004?
That is one of the many questions facing the jury chosen to hear the state’s case against Shaun Tuttle and David Lakin.
Both men have been charged with kidnapping and murder in connection with McManus’ death.
Their trial began Monday in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
“When the victim in this case, James McManus, died, he was an 81-year-old man who lived alone on Blake Street,” Assistant Attorney General Fern LaRochelle said in his opening statement.
The state alleges that Lakin, 23, and Tuttle, 22, ended up at McManus’ apartment after a night of drinking at a downtown pub.
How long they stayed and what they did while they were there is not clear.
LaRochelle told the jury that Lakin knew McManus, but Tuttle did not. He also said that police later found a “substance” on McManus’ bed sheets containing Tuttle’s DNA.
After some time at the apartment, LaRochelle said, McManus was led downstairs and placed in his own car.
“Then he was driven off by these two in the middle of the night,” LaRochelle said.
Cloth belt
The three men ended up on Pleasant Pond Road in North Turner, and that is where McManus is believed to have been crushed to death.
“As he was lying in the road alive, he was run over by his own vehicle,” LaRochelle said.
McManus’ mangled body was found the next day after Tuttle called 911 and told police to check the trunk of a car parked on Horton Street.
The bottom and side of the car were splattered with blood and tissue, a Lewiston police sergeant testified Monday.
Tuttle’s fingerprints were found on the shifting lever of the car. A part of Lakin’s palm print was detected on the rearview mirror.
McManus also had a cloth belt wrapped around his neck and rope wrapped around his upper body. However, Maine Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Michael Ferenc concluded that neither caused his death.
“His head was essentially crushed. It was like a broken eggshell, torn open so most of the brain was absent,” Ferenc testified.
After questioning Tuttle, then Lakin, police searched both of their apartments in Lewiston. Clothes stained with McManus’ blood were confiscated from both, LaRochelle said.
The state hopes to convince the jury that it doesn’t matter which man was driving the car.
All that matters, LaRochelle said, is that one did it and the other helped, or that they both knew that death was a likely consequence of the kidnapping.
“In Maine, you can be convicted of murder even though you are not the principal actor,” LaRochelle said.
Two trials in one’
In typical murder trials, the courtroom is divided between the victim’s family and the defendant’s family. The first day of this trial was different.
Tuttle’s family sat on one side; Lakin’s on the other. Each man has his own attorney who hopes to convince the jury that his client is not responsible.
Lakin’s attorney, Kevin Joyce, said in his opening statement that Lakin was passed out in the back seat of the car when the killing occurred.
“When he woke up, it was over,” Joyce said. “He was not involved.”
Tuttle’s lawyer, Thomas Goodwin, also warned the jury not to fall into the trap of lumping the two men together.
“This is really two trials in one with two defendants,” Goodwin said, “both of whom are entitled to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.”
Police said earlier that Tuttle also claimed to have been passed out in the back seat when McManus was killed. But Goodwin didn’t mention that in his opening statement.
He simply told the jury that levels of intoxication would be an important factor in the trial, because it relates to a person’s state of mind at the time an act is committed. He also reminded them that Tuttle was the one who called police and directed them to McManus’ car.
“I simply ask you – I implore you – to keep an open mind as you begin to hear the evidence,” Goodwin said. “You need to keep an open mind until all of the evidence is in.”
Once a successful salesman, McManus was known to socialize with younger people. Others from the neighborhood testified Monday that he drank with them, let them borrow his car and gave them money.
No relatives of McManus attended the trial.
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