James Peters, 71, of Mexico, seated, speaks Monday with defense lawyer James Howaniec at Oxford County Superior Court in Paris on the first day of Peters’ trial. A jury found him guilty Thursday of endangering the welfare of his fiancee in 2021. Joyce Brackett, 83, of 351 Main St. in Mexico died Feb. 13, 2021, three days after Peters called 911 and she was taken to a hospital with severe bodily infections, broken ribs and feces and urine covering her body, according to testimony. Joe Charpentier/Sun Journal

PARIS — An Oxford County Superior Court jury found a Mexico man guilty Thursday of intentionally or knowingly endangering his fiancee, who died Feb. 13, 2021, three days after she was admitted to a hospital with bed sores, broken ribs, a rotted jaw and covered in feces and urine.

After just over five hours of deliberations, a jury of 10 men and two women found James Peters, 71, guilty of endangering the welfare of Joyce Brackett, 83.

Brackett died at Maine Medical Center in Portland from a heart condition. She had shared her home at 351 Main St. in Mexico with Peters from 2015 until her death.

Throughout the three-day trial, prosecutors produced several witnesses who testified that Brackett’s condition was the result of severe neglect. Maine State Police detectives also testified about the state of Brackett’s bed and home and her financial assets.

Peters called 911 on Feb. 10, 2021, reporting Brackett was in severe pain and had been bedridden for about six weeks. Paramedics discovered Brackett on her bed covered in bed sores, bruises and open wounds, including a hole in her jaw with decayed tissue so severe that her teeth were visible through it.

Brackett was transported to Rumford Hospital where nurses and doctors documented further injuries and infections. Dr. Ian Dodson, a witness for the state, testified that Peters admitted to hospital staff, as they cleaned Brackett of old feces and urine, that Brackett had not bathed in weeks and had not spoken in about three weeks due to her facial wound.

Doctors had Brackett transported by LifeFlight of Maine to Maine Medical Center. Doctors there identified eight rib fractures and kidney failure and confirmed that her jaw had rotted into two pieces.

Brackett died three days later due to a heart condition, according to Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Liam Funte.

“This is a very serious case of elder abuse, and the family is grateful to the jury,” Assistant Attorney General Suzanne Russell said after the verdict. “The state is very satisfied with the verdict. We think the jury got it right.”

Peters’ attorneys, James Howaniec and Mitchel Roberge, brought Ann Rovner, a certified critical care nurse from California, to testify that people close to someone in Brackett’s state do not commonly recognize the severity of some symptoms. Additionally, Rovner said the hole in Brackett’s face could have taken days or weeks to form and may not have appeared as concerning until fairly recent to the day Peters called 911.

“This is a terrible injustice,” Howaniec said after the verdict. “The only person who cared for Joyce during her final illness was Jim Peters … He’s the only one who called an ambulance for medical help, against Joyce’s wishes. And yet he is the one convicted of a felony. The jury had to conclude that Jim intentionally endangered Joyce. There was absolutely no evidence presented that he intended to harm her. This is a very bizarre verdict.”

Peters’ sentencing date has not been set. He faces up to five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine for the felony.