AUGUSTA – A South Portland man serving 15 years of a 20-year sentence in a state prison for rape will be arraigned today on a murder charge in connection with Judith Flagg’s 1983 slaying in Fayette.

A Kennebec County grand jury indicted 49-year-old Thomas Mitchell Jr. earlier this month in connection with the stabbing death of Flagg.

Mitchell is scheduled to appear for arraignment on the charge at 8 a.m. at the Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta.

Flagg’s husband, Ted, found his 23-year-old wife stabbed to death after he returned to their Watson Heights home after working a double shift on Jan. 6, 1983. Their 1-year-old son, Chad, was also home at the time.

Flagg had been stabbed several times.

Mitchell, whose father previously owned the Flagg’s house, is scheduled to be released from prison on Feb. 6, 2007. He was sentenced in the rape conviction to 20 years with all but 15 years suspended and three years probation, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.