By Kathryn Skelton,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – A second jury, unmoved by his testimony and often-contradictory witness accounts, found Brandon Thongsavanh guilty of murder Thursday. The verdict capped nearly 14 hours of deliberations spread over three days.

The state prosecutor said she intends to ask for a sentence of at least 58 years, maybe more.

Thongsavanh, 22, was accused of killing Morgan McDuffee on March 3, 2002, as the Bates senior tried to break up a fight on Main Street in Lewiston.

As the verdict was read shortly after 3:30 p.m. in Cumberland County Superior Court, the 22-year-old blinked once, quickly. Family members, rows behind him, sobbed.

McDuffee’s family quietly hugged.

Outside the courthouse, Lisa Freeman, McDuffee’s mother, said the decision was “very bittersweet. This has been a grueling process. It doesn’t bring back Morgan.”

McDuffee, from Massachusetts, was 22 when he died from a knife wound to the heart.

“He was ready to graduate, he was ready to get married, he had the world ahead of him,” said his father, Regis McDuffee. He called Morgan “the perfect son.”

“I just really want to thank the prosecution,” he said. “They did a fabulous job two times. We’re so relieved that we got the verdict our family so desperately needed, needed in order to move on.”

In February 2003, a jury took less than three hours to find Thongsavanh guilty of the same crime. That conviction was thrown out on grounds of jury bias based on a shirt Thongsavanh wore the night of the crime with an obscene slang reference to Jesus Christ.

The new trial was moved from Androscoggin County due to heavy media coverage.

This time Thongsavanh took the stand in his own defense. McDuffee said he was surprised at how “cold and methodical” Thongsavanh sounded, and how his version of events “didn’t make any sense.”

The defense argued that Thongsavanh was involved in the fight after a night of drinking and party-hopping, but that another man had delivered the fatal blow. The knife used has never been found.

Defense co-counsel Scott Lynch said he and David Van Dyke would look at grounds for appeal over the next several days and consult with the family.

“Make no mistake about it, they will appeal. I think that conviction will be sound,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese. The state will seek a sentence of at least 58 years, equal to Thongsavanh’s original prison term.

“We need to look at his conduct since the last sentencing to see if there’s any reason we should ask the court to consider lengthening that,” she said.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place the week of Thanksgiving. It will be up to the Department of Corrections whether Thongsavanh is sent back to Arizona, Marchese added. Prior to his appeal, he had been sent there in a prisoner swap.

She said this case was harder to try than the first, with fading memories and uncooperative witnesses. The amount of time spent deliberating also had her concerned about the possibility of a hung jury.

Around 11 a.m. Thursday, jurors asked to rehear instructions on how to reach a murder conviction and to review a piece of Chad Aube’s testimony.

Suzanna Andrew, Morgan McDuffee’s fiance, said she believes society is safer with Thongsavanh behind bars, but like the first verdict, it didn’t make her feel better.

After all 12 jurors confirmed their guilty votes, the Thongsavanh family left the courtroom, piled into an elevator and declined comment.

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