BANGOR, Maine — The woman arrested Tuesday in connection with two stabbings at the Bangor Mall allegedly attacked her victims from behind and without any provocation, the Penobscot County deputy district attorney said Wednesday.
Elizabeth Ellis, 34, of Virginia has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, Class B felonies that carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
Ellis is being held at Penobscot County Jail on $50,000 cash bail. She is expected to make an initial court appearance Friday at the Penobscot Judicial Center, Deputy District Attorney Mike Roberts said Wednesday during a brief news conference.
“A woman who has been identified to this point as Elizabeth Ellis turned herself in to the Farmington Police Department indicating that she’d been involved [in the Bangor Mall stabbings],” Roberts said during the news conference.
Roberts said police recovered a knife from Ellis, but he did not know whether it was the knife used in Tuesday’s stabbings.
“At this point, we know very little about her,” he said. “She’s been identified as being from out of Virginia. She is 34 years of age, but we really know nothing else about her.”
Roberts said it was not yet clear to him how she got from Bangor to Farmington.
“I have absolutely no idea,” he said. “A vehicle was located at the Farmington Police Department. I’m sure we’ll check into the contents of the vehicle, but it’s very early on in the investigation. We really don’t know that much about her.
“She [arrived] in the vehicle. I don’t know at this point who it’s registered to. We’ve only received very preliminary police reports at this point,” he said.
Also unclear is what prompted the stabbings.
“We really don’t have any idea. She showed up at one point, stabbed the first victim, then turned around a little bit later at another point in the mall and stabbed the other victim,” Roberts said.
“Both events seemed to be random. There doesn’t seem to be any motivation involved in either event,” he said. “Without knowing more about who she is and what’s going on with her, we really can’t say what happened.”
Roberts said neither victim reported any demands made by Ellis.
“She went up behind each victim. They were both stabbed in the back, and then the perpetrator walks off,” he said.
“She has no [criminal ] history in Maine,” he added. “I have no idea at this point what she has in Virginia. That’s something we’ll be looking into in the next couple of days.”
Virginia authorities did not respond immediately to a request Wednesday for a criminal background check on Ellis.
Asked about initial reports that a man might have been involved, Roberts said, “She was [alone] when she turned herself in. I have no idea who she’d been with or if she’s been with anybody in Maine.”
Roberts said Ellis isn’t saying much to police.
“She requested an attorney, so no. She’s not talking to police anymore,” he said.
Roberts said a psychiatric evaluation has not been requested.
Tuesday’s stabbings occurred about 20 minutes apart, according to Bangor police. The victims described their attacker as a white female in her 20s wearing a blue shirt and gray skirt.
“The victims did not know the suspect. These appear to have been random acts,” Detective Sgt. David Bushey said Tuesday evening in a news release.
The first stabbing occurred at 11:38 a.m. Tuesday at American Eagle Outfitters, according to Bangor police. The second occurred at J.C. Penney.
Each victim suffered a single stab wound to her shoulder. Both were taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where they were treated and then released.
Bangor police caught a break in the case shortly before 3 p.m., when Detective Marc Bowering of the Farmington Police Department called with information about the stabbings.
Bangor detectives went to Farmington to follow up on the information and brought Ellis back to Bangor on the assault charges.
Bowering declined to comment on the case Wednesday afternoon, noting he wasn’t sure what information Bangor police were prepared to release at that point.
Anyone who was in the Bangor Mall area between 11 a.m. and noon Tuesday and may have witnessed anything related to this case is asked to call the Bangor Police Department at 947-7384.