By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – There was relief but little outright joy Thursday for those who have been following the trial of Brandon Thongsavanh for the second time.

Peter Lasagna, lacrosse coach to the slain Morgan McDuffee, tempered his satisfaction over the verdict with sadness and reflection.

“It was incredibly hard to go through this the first time. None of us expected to be going through it again,” Lasagna said. “Relief is the first emotion. It’s not any kind of exultant victory because it’s all so very sad.”

The jury decision finding Thongsavanh guilty of McDuffee’s murder was announced Thursday afternoon. By early evening, many people around Lewiston had not heard that a verdict had been announced.

In corner stores and on street corners, few people reacted with surprise. Most had expected Thongsavanh again to be found guilty of the killing. None accepted the defense claim that another man had killed the 22-year-old college student in March 2002.

At Bates College, where McDuffee was a student when he was killed, students and faculty members waited three days for news about the jury’s decision.

“We hope the verdict brings some measure of closure to the McDuffee family,” said Bryan McNulty, a Bates spokesman.

Lasagna did not view the 14 hours of jury deliberation as a sign that the panel was undecided about Thongsavanh’s guilt. He saw it as a long, careful examination of the facts as they were presented at the second trial.

“The jurors did exactly as the judge instructed them to do,” Lasagna said. “God bless them all. My faith in Maine juries continues. And I also need to express the awesome amount of respect I have for the witnesses that decided to make really difficult decisions by coming forward with the truth.”

Convicted for the second time, Thongsavanh could be sentenced to 58 years in prison or more for the killing of McDuffee. Lasagna took small comfort in that fact as well.

For the lacrosse coach, the trial was a reminder that a student and friend was gone. He was also reminded of how the Bates community, the city of Lewiston and others rallied around in the early days and the aftermath of the killing.

“A wonderful, wonderful person was taken from the earth and he was not able to do all the things he wanted to do,” Lasagna said. “But what everybody in this community has done around this tragedy has been wonderful. You find out a lot about the city you live in, the state you live in, when they have to deal with the worst thing that could happen.”

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