ROCKLAND, Maine — A 42-year-old Rockland man is being held at the Knox County Jail on a probation violation, the fifth time he has been behind bars since being released four years ago for his role in the murder of a Warren man.
Earl Nash was arrested shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday by Rockland police after officers responded to a report of a fight on Rockland Street near Main Street. The fight was over when officers arrived.
Rockland police Sgt. Kenneth Smith said Nash was arrested on a probation violation, but details of what occurred Sunday that led to his arrest were not immediately available. He is likely to make his first court appearance Wednesday in 6th District Court in Rockland.
Nash was sentenced in 1996 to 20 years in prison with all but 16 years and 274 days suspended for felony murder and robbery in connection to the April 1992 death of 79-year-old Carroll Howard at his home in Warren.
Nash also was placed on probation for six years. He was released from prison about four years ago.
The death of Howard initially was not considered a homicide, but later a suspect in another case alerted state police about what he had heard occurred at the home.
Nash was one of three people convicted in Howard’s death.
According to court testimony in the 1990s, Nash and the two other men had been on a drinking binge and ran out of liquor and money. They broke into Howard’s mobile home and demanded money. Nash punched the elderly man in the face. The trio then pulled the telephone out of the wall so that he could not call for help. Howard bled to death on the floor of his trailer.
The three got away with $5, a telephone and tools.
The three men missed $1,300 in cash that was in Howard’s pocket.
Nash’s last probation violation occurred in May 2011 when he was arrested for a drug violation. He was sentenced in June to serve eight months of the previously suspended jail term for the drug violation.
Why the heck did he only serve so few years for murder?
The poor boy was under the influence of “demon rum.” therefore they couldn’t charge him with premeditated murder. Second degree murder is out because he punched the guy to stifle him not to kill him, so they probably plea-bargained a manslaughter conviction.
In New York if someone dies during the commission of a criminal act, ALL actors can be charged with first degree murder. Maybe Maine should look at that option.
Felony murder is different than manslaughter.
I will be the first one here to post how disgusted I am by the thought that this person is even out of jail, let alone committing new crimes. Im sure I will not be the last. He obviously is a career criminal who escalated up to a viscious crime that resulted in the death of an elderly man once. The types of crimes he is being arrested for now may appear to be petty, compared to murder, however they provid current, and very frightening examples of his previous behaviors. I believe it is only a matter of time before he seriously injures or kills someone again or participates in such activity as an accomplice.
why don’t we keep people like this locked up…
And when he get ahold of a gun and murders someone else the left will blame the second amendment.
I think most everyone would blame the “system” for not actually keeping him locked up in the first place.
I can’t even begin to cover what’s wrong with our system when a man punches an elderly person in the face and leaves him to bleed to death, and then receives a scanty 3-year sentence. And how is it possible for him to be arrested so many times since his release and yet he is still free??????
I honestly cant see how you can be so surprised. When Ralph Greenleaf was killed last year, he was pushed to the ground, died and the people involved didnt get so much as an assault charge against them. Part of our double sided justice system we have here in Maine. If you are important, we can let em off. If you are nothing and kill someone or hurt someone important, than we are gonna see them go away for a long long time. But if both people are not important, as the case seems to be here, well we can plea that down and wait for ya to screw up again next time before we give em a permanent room at the Prison.
As a society in general …we are toast…
Look, just do us all a favor Maine, ship this murder back to prison and keep him there, why do you keep releasing him? what will it take another murder to keep him in prison?
If I was a judge in Maine, & gave out sentences like this guy received, I could not live with myself- & it continually happens all the time. I have yet to see anyone serve a complete sentence for what they did, & you see evidence of it everyday when you look at these repeat offenders, who get out early & go right back to what they are doing. Jail sentences should serve as a deterrent to crime…well here in Maine, would -be offenders can see that they have little to worry about. This guy is dangerous- is he going back to jail THIS time?
he got out of prison more then 4 years ago. he was out in 2006 when he got arrested for a probation violation.