CARIBOU, Maine — Two years after the murder of a young St. Francis mother, the trial of her accused killer is set to begin at the Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou.
Jury selection will begin Monday, June 13, in the state’s case against Jesse Marquis, who is charged with murder in the death of his former girlfriend, Amy Theriault, a 31-year-old mother of two young children who was shot and stabbed in her St. Francis home on May 31, 2014.
Two people in the home that morning witnessed parts of what happened and saw Marquis flee from the residence, according to an affidavit filed with the court. The document does not go into specifics about what each witnessed.
Members of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, Maine State Police and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol searched the woods of St. Francis for a week before apprehending the former school bus driver on June 6.
Marquis was found sitting next to a tree near the St. Francis town dump, and he surrendered without incident. Police also seized a hunting rifle from Marquis, which was near him at the time of his capture.
A grand jury indicted Marquis on the murder charge, on July 11, 2014, and he pleaded not guilty the following month.
Theriault’s family members have been vocal about wanting justice for Amy, collecting signatures for a petition seeking a prison sentence of life without parole, should a jury find Marquis guilty of the murder.
“There’s a chance he will get out in his lifetime, and I can’t live with that,” Amy’s mother Barbara Theriault said in April of 2015, while circulating the petition. “Amy can’t talk anymore; she’s a victim. So we, her family, are now her voice saying this is not right. She deserves justice.”
Assistant Attorney General John Alsop will argue the case on behalf of the state. Attorneys Stephen Smith and Dan Umphrey are representing Marquis.
Judge E. Allen Hunter will preside over the case.