BANGOR, Maine — Jurors began deliberating about noon Friday whether a man accused of using Facebook to lure 15-year-old Nichole Cable to her death nearly two years ago is guilty of murder and kidnapping or not after hearing nine days of testimony at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
The jury of seven men and five women began deliberating after the alternates, one man and one woman, were dismissed. Two male alternates were dismissed previously for reasons that have not been made public.
In closing arguments Friday morning, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, who is prosecuting the case, said that all the evidence showed that “Kyle Dube and only Kyle Dube kidnapped and murdered Nichole Cable.”
Dube’s DNA was found on a hat and sock discovered at the end of the road where Cable’s mother lived, the prosecutor said. It also was found under Cable’s fingernails.
Defense attorney Stephen Smith of Augusta told the jurors that Dube had no motive to kill Cable because the two were friends and lovers and he never confessed. Smith said that Dube’s ex-girlfriend, Sarah Mersinger, now 18, of Glenburn “hated Nichole Cable” and had access to Kyle Dube’s phone and computer.
“Kyle had no motive, very little opportunity and there’s a perfectly viable suspect who had all those things,” Smith said. “There was no reason, none, zero, for Kyle to kill Nichole. That’s reasonable doubt.”
Dube, 21, of Orono is accused of using Facebook to lure Cable out of her mother’s home in Glenburn nearly two years ago by using the identity of Bryan Butterfield, a boy his girlfriend had dated, then killing Cable in an abduction gone wrong.
He has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and murder in the May 12, 2013, death of the Old Town High School student. He allegedly planned to kidnap the girl, hide her, then find her and play the hero.
In two recorded interviews with Maine State Police detectives played for the jury last week and Wednesday, Dube repeatedly denied having anything to do with Cable’s disappearance, but he gave a fellow inmate a written confession shown to jurors Thursday.
Zainea told jurors that only the killer could have known the details, including a diagram of the area near Cable’s mother’s home where the girl was kidnapped, that were outlined in Dube’s handwritten confession.
“The information about how her fingernails had been scraped by her killer was never released to the press,” Zainea told the jury. “In the confession, Mr. Dube wrote and drew a picture of how he did that.”
Smith said that in the letters Dube wrote to inmate Scott Ford, Dube tried to protect his girlfriend.
“I’ll never try and put this on Sarah,” Dube wrote. “I don’t care if she is with someone else or not. It’s my problem, not hers.”
Jurors must first consider the murder charge, the judge told them. If they find Dube is not guilty of murder, the jury may consider manslaughter.
If the jury finds Dube caused Cable’s death intentionally or knowingly or with depraved indifference, then he is guilty of murder, Murray said. If Dube acted recklessly or with criminal negligence in causing Cable’s death, then he would be guilty of manslaughter.
After considering the murder charge, jurors should consider the kidnapping charge, the judge said.
If Dube is convicted of murder, he faces between 25 years and life in prison. If he is convicted of kidnapping and/or manslaughter, he faces up to 30 years in prison. Dube is being held without bail.
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.
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