By Christopher Williams,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Roger Keene sat hunched forward in his chair, his head bowed, as his lawyer recited the words Keene had penned but wouldn’t read in the courtroom.

“I caused someone I really loved to die…I am not the same person as I was two years ago… I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.”

It was too little, too late, said Lisa Marchese, the assistant attorney general who had proved charges of manslaughter and kidnapping against the 42-year-old man who lived in Litchfield at the time of the death.

He may express remorse now, she said at his sentencing Friday in Androscoggin County Superior Court. But he never admitted all his crimes.

Keene argued with his 42-year-old girlfriend, Leslie Stasulis, behind her bar, “Leslie’s Place,” on Lisbon Street in Lewiston on the night of Sept. 11, 2003. She had tried to break up with him. So, he beat her unconscious, then loaded her limp body into the back of his pickup truck, Marchese told the judge.

Exactly why Stasulis’ body ended up stretched out across the eastbound lane of Route 126 in Sabattus and whether Keene tried to make her death look like an accident will never be known, Marchese said.

“He chose to talk, but continued to lie and lie,” she said of Keene. What’s clear is that he tried to cover up his crime by kidnapping her, she said.

Marchese said Keene would pose a threat to society, especially women. He had a history of domestic violence, including a stalking conviction. He should be locked up until he is in his late 60s, she told the judge.

Keene left Stasulis’ five children – the youngest just 7 years old – without a mother.

One of them, Heather Guimond, wept as she told the judge what her life has been like for the past year-and-a-half.

“It’s just been really, really hard,” she said between sobs. Then, to Keene: “Why did you go and do something like this?”

Justice Thomas Warren sentenced Keene to 36 years, with six suspended. Plus six years of probation and counseling.

George Hess, Keene’s lawyer, said the sentence was too severe. He had argued for a total of 18 years.

Keene is an alcoholic who needs substance abuse and anger management counseling, he said.

With that treatment, he could be rehabilitated, he told the judge.

The Rev. Bob Giguere, chaplain at the Androscoggin County Jail, said he believed Keene has reformed.

“He’s one of the few men I’ve seen who’s truly been repentant of what he’s done,” Giguere told the judge. “You are in a position, your honor, to save a life.”

Hess said his client didn’t recount all the events of that night because, if he did, Marchese might use that information against him. The jury couldn’t agree on an attempted murder charge at Keene’s trial. That means prosecutors could retry him on that charge, Hess said.

Marchese promised not to, unless the convictions are overturned on appeal.

Hess said he planned to appeal both the sentence and convictions.

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