PARIS — The sentencing date for a man convicted in a double homicide trial has been scheduled for Thursday, July 30.

Duane Christopher Waterman, 33, of Sumner, will be sentenced at 9 a.m. at Oxford County Superior Court. He was found guilty in June of shooting to death Timothy Mayberry, 50, of West Paris, and Todd Smith, 43, of Paris. The men were killed at Mayberry’s home on Tuelltown Road on July 25, 2008.

The sentencing originally was set for July 10 but was delayed when Justice Roland Cole fell ill and was hospitalized. Cole had been assigned to hear all matters related to the case after Waterman was charged with the murders.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson has asked that Waterman be given two concurrent life sentences. Benson has listed several aggravating factors in the crime in an 11-page sentencing memorandum. He argues that Waterman planned Mayberry’s murder in advance, decided to kill Smith to silence a witness, committed the murders for financial gain and has not shown any remorse. Benson also asks that Waterman pay the state victim compensation fund $8,594 to cover the cost of the victims’ funerals.

Benson argued that Waterman was growing increasingly angry over Mayberry’s insistence that he repay a debt, as well as Mayberry’s insinuations that Waterman’s wife would give up information to the police to reduce her jail sentence. Benson said Waterman bought a .380-caliber handgun in the months prior to the murders. Investigators did not recover the gun but determined that shell casings at the crime scene matched those turned over to police by a former owner of the weapon.

Waterman testified that he was fishing with his children on the evening of July 25. He said he went into Mayberry’s house the next day to check on him, but left after seeing bloodstains. Waterman said he owed Mayberry $1,500 at the time of his death for his failure to sell OxyContin in Machias, and had purchased the handgun to trade to Mayberry to reduce the debt.

Defense lawyer John Jenness Jr. argued during the trial that there was no conclusive evidence tying Waterman to the case, and that Waterman would not have returned to Mayberry’s house, or kept documents related to the handgun purchase, if he had committed the murders. Jenness also sought unsuccessfully to introduce an alternative suspect at the trial.

Jenness has not filed a sentencing memorandum, but he has requested that Waterman be acquitted or given a new trial. He argues that Waterman should either be acquitted because the jury could not have avoided having a reasonable doubt about his guilt or be given a new trial because there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict.

Waterman faces 25 years to life in prison on each count of murder.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com