PARIS — The defense lawyer for a man convicted of two murders last week has filed for acquittal or a new trial.
John Jenness Jr. filed the motion in Oxford County Superior Court in the case of Duane Christopher Waterman, 33, of Sumner. A jury found Waterman guilty of shooting Timothy Mayberry, 50, of West Paris, and Todd Smith, 43, of Paris at Mayberry’s home on Tuelltown Road.
Jenness argues that Waterman should be acquitted because a jury considering the evidence in the case could not avoid concluding that there was reasonable doubt of his guilt. He also said the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and a new trial was needed.
During the trial, the state presented evidence that Waterman owed Mayberry at least $1,500 for a failed sale of OxyContin, had made threatening references to Mayberry in recorded phone calls and had bought a .380-caliber handgun in the months before the murders. Investigators determined that shell casings found at the crime scene matched those found at the home of a former owner of the gun. Police also concluded that .380-caliber bullets of the same manufacture as those found in Mayberry and Smith’s bodies were found in Waterman’s house.
Waterman testified that he was fishing with his children on the evening of July 25, when the murders are believed to have occurred and that he went to Mayberry’s house the next day to check on him. Jenness argued that Waterman’s actions, including keeping paperwork related to the gun sale, were not indicative of someone who would have committed the crimes and that there was no conclusive evidence implicating him in the deaths.
Jenness also tried unsuccessfully to introduce Smith’s ex-girlfriend as an alternative suspect in the case.
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson, the state prosecutor, was unavailable on Wednesday afternoon. Jenness declined comment.
Waterman is scheduled for sentencing on July 10. He faces 25 years to life in prison on each count of murder.
mlangeveld@sunjournal.com

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