The state says Sarah Cherry didn’t know the man who killed her. Many Mainers still believe the state doesn’t know who it was, either.

Sixteen years after one of Maine’s most random, heinous homicides, the quiet farmer convicted of sexually assaulting and then murdering a 12-year-old Bowdoin baby sitter receives more publicity and sympathy than his victim.

It’s troubling if Dennis Dechaine’s family, friends and supporters are right that he was wrongly convicted. Deeply disturbing if they’re wrong.

“A 12-year-old girl died, and that’s a horrible thing,” said Bev Gallant of Rumford. “But another horrible thing is that the killer might be still out there.”

Sarah would be 28. She might have been a mom, a teacher or an attorney dedicated to stamping out bad guys.

Gallant says two wrongs don’t make a right. That’s why she and her husband, Bill, a retired ex-police chief, formed the Rumford chapter of Trial & Error this summer.

Trial & Error was formed by people who believe Dechaine is innocent.

They believe the prosecution either concealed or overlooked evidence in Dechaine’s murder trial in March 1989. They say a new DNA analysis in July 2004 exonerates their man and that he deserves a retrial.

DNA not Dechaine’s

The group’s bible is the 2002 book “Human Sacrifice” by retired U.S. Treasury agent James P. Moore, who has privately researched the case.

Moore spoke at the group’s second monthly meeting, one that packed the Gallants’ home at 37 Royal Ave.

“All the state’s evidence is in that book,” said Gallant. “We’re saying, Here, take a look at the stuff you gathered and explain it.'”

Yes, there are holes in that evidence.

Start with the DNA discovered under Cherry’s fingernails. There are two matches: Cherry, and an unidentified male. Not Dechaine.

At the estimated time of Cherry’s death in the early morning hours of July 7, 1988, records show that Dechaine was in police custody, being questioned.

Cops had cause to be suspicious. Cherry’s body was found in a wooded area not far from Dechaine’s abandoned pickup truck. Receipts with Dechaine’s name on them were discovered in the driveway of the home where the girl was abducted.

Dechaine admitted to using liquid amphetamines that day. He also made statements to police that could be construed as confessions or rhetorical questions, depending upon whom you believe.

Reopening wounds

Bev Gallant chose sides long ago.

“I attended the trial, watched (defense attorney) Tom Connolly make every effort to introduce evidence that would exonerate Dennis and saw him stonewalled,” she said.

In the interest of full disclosure, Gallant, like many Trial & Error members, is a Dechaine family friend.

She says Trial & Error has a roster of 3,300 from “all over the world.” Some followed the case closely and thought it set a scary precedent.

“You could walk into (a convenience store) to buy a carton of milk or some cigarettes,” Gallant said. “Someone else could walk in the front door while you’re in the back and kill the store clerk. If you are there in the store and the state wants it, you will be convicted. That’s a scary thought for people.”

Some of those people have taken unusual steps to support Dechaine.

This summer, a Portland restaurant owner pledged 10 percent of one night’s proceeds to Trial & Error, only to rescind the offer when a protester came to the fund-raiser.

Also, a 50-year-old widow from Lisbon donated $10,000 to the group and purchased a $20,000 GMC pickup truck that she plans to give Dechaine if he is released from prison.

In neighboring Bowdoin, the grief goes on.

“We think we find peace,” Peg Cherry, Sarah’s grandmother, said in a 2003 interview with the Sun Journal. “Then this happens and brings it all back.”

The next Rumford meeting is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, at the St. John’s Parish Center. Moore will speak again.

Trial & Error distributes free copies of his book on its Web site, trialanderrordennis.org. They suggest a donation to Dechaine’s defense fund and also encourage gifts to a scholarship fund in Cherry’s name at Mount Ararat High School in Topsham.

You decide which one is a good idea.

Kalle Oakes is staff columnist. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].