BANGOR, Maine — The prosecution will ask that a woman convicted of murdering her husband in the couple’s bathroom three years ago spend the rest of her life in prison because the way she killed him was tantamount to torture.
The defense team will urge the judge to impose a 25-to-30-year sentence because the crime was a result of her mental health issues.
Roxanne Jeskey, 51, of Bangor is to be sentenced Friday morning by Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter at the Penobscot Judicial Center. She faces between 25 years and life in prison.
Jeskey was found guilty May 30 of both intentional and knowing murder and depraved indifference murder in connection with the death of her 53-year-old husband, Richard “Rick” Jeskey, on June 12 or 13, 2011. Her jury-waived trial was held before Hunter in December and January.
Hunter said he found the testimony of Dr. Michael Ferenc, former deputy medical examiner, “compelling.”
Richard Jeskey suffered extensive multiple blunt and sharp force injuries to the head, neck, torso, limbs and genitalia, Ferenc said in the autopsy report. He also was strangled with sufficient force to break the hyoid bone of his neck, Ferenc testified last year.
The hyoid bone is the bone at the top of the neck under the chin.
The judge concluded that the injuries were inflicted with a plastic baseball bat, razor, wooden and metal rods from broken towel racks, a pair of needle-nosed pliers, and, perhaps, other implements.
“Any one of these injuries standing alone manifests a depraved indifference to the value of human life,” Hunter said. “Taken together, they reflect a monstrous savagery and cruelty that defies comprehension.”
Judges may impose a life sentence for murder in specific circumstances outlined in State of Maine v. John Shortsleeves, decided in 1990 by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. It lays out seven conditions under which a judge may impose a life sentence. One or more of them must exist for a convicted murderer to be sentenced to life.
They are:
— Murder accompanied by torture, sexual abuse or other extreme cruelty inflicted on the victim.
— Murder committed in a penal institution by an inmate.
— Multiple victims.
— Murder for hire.
— Murder of a hostage.
— A previous murder conviction.
— Murder of an on-duty law enforcement officer.
“It is clear from Dr. Ferenc’s testimony that Richard Jeskey, while alive, was subjected to extreme cruelty that rises to the level of torture,” Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, who prosecuted the case with Assistant Attorney General Deb Cashman, said in her sentencing memorandum dated June 19. “From his head to his lower extremities, he was cut, sliced, punctured, beaten and burnt. Most of the injuries he sustained were accompanied by hemorrhaging, which is indicative that his heart was beating and he was alive when he was beaten, repeatedly cut, sliced and punctured.
“This is not, if there is such a thing, a ‘run of the mill’ murder,” she continued. “It is a murder characterized by, in the words of the definition of depraved indifference, such outrageous, revolting, savage, brutal or shocking conduct that it readily demonstrates an almost total lack of concern or appreciation for the value of human life on the part of the defendant. It is a murder involving literal torture.”
Experts gave conflicting testimony at Jeskey’s trial about whether she knew right from wrong the night she killed her husband. Prosecution and defense experts testified that Jeskey’s cognitive skills and memory are impaired because of the removal of the tumor. However, she was found competent to stand trial by Hunter and Superior Court Justice Ann Murray, who later recused herself from the case.
Defense attorney David Bate, who represents Jeskey with Joseph Baldacci, both of Bangor, said in his sentencing memorandum, dated June 26, that evidence presented at the trial “indicate[d] this crime would not have occurred but for her mental health issues.”
“Ms. Jeskey had injuries on her body that, in combination with her mental health issues, could represent the trigger to an unreasonable reaction and show of force against Mr. Jeskey,” Bate wrote. “Admittedly, the court found that the severity of Mr. Jeskey’s injuries and duration of time it would take to inflict those injuries indicates sufficient intent or knowledge to support a conviction.
“However, the severity of the injuries also represents an extreme and unexpected departure from 48 years of no criminal activity, strongly suggesting that her mental health status played a substantial role in what unfolded that night,” he concluded.
Bate and Baldacci have filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that if Jeskey had been given medication for her “psychosis” during her trial, she most likely would have taken the stand in her own defense. A hearing on that motion is not expected to be scheduled until after the sentencing.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and would like to talk with an advocate, call 866-834-4357, TRS 800-787-3224. This free, confidential service is available 24/7 and is accessible from anywhere in Maine.