AUBURN – State prosecutors have decided to drop an attempted murder charge against a Litchfield man already convicted of manslaughter and kidnapping.
Roger Keene, 42, went to trial last month for causing the death of his girlfriend, Leslie Stasulis. The 42-year-old mother of five was found Sept. 12, 2003, bloody and battered in the middle of a Sabattus road.
Jurors convicted Keene on June 2 of manslaughter and kidnapping in connection with her death. Despite nine hours of deliberations, however, they were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a third charge of attempted murder.
This left the Maine Attorney General’s Office with two choices: dismiss the charge or retry Keene for that charge only.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese informed Justice Thomas Warren this week that her office has opted to drop the charge and to proceed with sentencing on the other two counts.
Stasulis and Keene were having an affair prior to her death, and Stasulis reportedly had told Keene that she wanted to end it.
On the night of Sept. 11, 2003, Keene and Stasulis fought behind Stasulis’ bar, Leslie’s Place, on Lisbon Street. At some point, Keene put Stasulis in the back of his pickup truck and drove down Route 126 in Sabattus.
A man driving west on that road found Stasulis fighting for her life early the next morning. She died nine days later of massive head trauma.
Jurors agreed that Keene took Stasulis against her will and somehow caused the fatal injury to her head. What they couldn’t agree on is whether Keene tried to cover his tracks and kill Stasulis by placing her in the middle of the road, then leaving with the hope that she would be run over.
Keene faces up to 30 years each for the manslaughter and kidnapping charges. A date for his sentencing hearing has not been set.
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