FARMINGTON — A Jay man accused of killing his girlfriend last summer at her home in Jay is scheduled Tuesday to undergo a forensic evaluation for competency, criminal responsibility and other mental conditions, according to a court document.
Dr. Robert Riley, a consultant neuro-psychologist for State Forensic Services is scheduled to conduct the examination.
James “Ted” Sweeney, 57, pleaded not guilty in September to a charge of intentional or knowing murder of Wendy Douglass, 51, on July 11, 2017. The two lived together on Jewell Street in Jay.
Sweeney has been held without bail at the Franklin County Detention Center since shortly after he turned himself in at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on July 11. Sweeney, who was indicted on the murder charge in August 2017, has not had a bail hearing.
Sweeney is deaf and presented a note at the Auburn jail that read, “I am going to jail cause I hurt my girlfriend,” according to an affidavit was filed last year with the Farmington court by Detective John L. Kyle II of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit-South. The note asked that Douglass be checked at her home.
Police discovered her body in her bed with “significant injuries to her head” and covered with a blanket, according to the affidavit.
When the residence was searched, an evidence response team found a “black wooden baseball bat with red/brown staining on it, hidden at the base of the stair leading to the second floor. The red/brown staining came back presumptive positive for blood,” according to Kyle’s affidavit.
The baseball bat is believed to be the murder weapon, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese said outside Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn after Sweeney’s initial appearance in July 2017.
Dr. Clare Bryce of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta told Kyle “’the cause of death is blunt force trauma to Wendy’s head. The manner of death is homicide,’” according to the affidavit.
Douglass was a produce manager at Food City in Livermore Falls at the time of her death.
Justice William Stokes is overseeing the case.
A conviction on a murder charge carries a minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
James Sweeney (Franklin County Detention Center)
Wendy Douglass (File Photo)
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