BELFAST, Maine — A 17-year-old from Troy was given a suspended eight-year jail term Friday after he admitted to stabbing his father to death last year.
However, Colby Hodgdon was ordered to remain at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland until he turns 21 on a separate conviction for an assault he was involved in at the juvenile detention center.
Hodgdon has been held at Long Creek since his arrest in April 2015 on a murder charge in connection with the death of his father, Steven Hodgdon, on March, 7, 2015, at their Rutland Road home in Troy.
On Friday, the teenager pleaded guilty in Belfast District Court to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Judge Patricia Worth accepted a plea agreement reached between Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea and defense attorney John Martin that called for the suspended eight-year sentence for manslaughter. The teen also will be placed on probation for four years upon his release from the juvenile detention facility.
The prosecutor outlined evidence during Friday’s hearing that indicated the teen, who was 16 at the time of the crime, called Waldo County emergency dispatch to say his father was injured shortly before 2:30 a.m. the day of the stabbing.
Zainea said the first emergency medical technician to arrive found Colby Hodgdon attempting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his father. The EMT continued the resuscitation efforts, but the older Hodgdon was declared dead about a half-hour later.
Hodgdon at first told emergency responders he had pushed his father, who was then impaled on a piece of wood in the kitchen. In subsequent interviews and in a written statement provided by the teen, however, Hodgdon told investigators that he and his father had gotten into an argument that turned physical after a night of drinking. He told investigators that his father had picked up a knife and that he managed to get the weapon away from his father before stabbing him in the back, the prosecutor told Worth during the hourlong hearing Friday.
Zainea said the older Hodgdon suffered a stab wound about 3-inches deep that punctured a lung, and he bled to death.
Also, in an affidavit unsealed Friday and filed by the Maine State Police in April to charge Hodgdon with murder as a juvenile, the teen stated that his larger father had choked him and that he feared for his life.
Police also videotaped a walkthrough of the fight scene with Hodgdon, according to the affidavit. But the state medical examiner Dr. Mark Flomenbaum said in the document that while the version of the stabbing could have occurred as the youth claimed, it was “highly unlikely” the stab could could have been inflicted as the teen said.
The prosecutor told the judge Friday, however, that Hodgdon tried to save his father and tried cauterizing, or burning, the wound as he had seen done on television shows in an effort to stop the bleeding.
After the hearing, which was attended by the teen’s mother and sister, defense attorney Martin said the father had physically abused his son over the years. The argument on the night of the stabbing began with the father’s comments about the son’s girlfriend.
On Friday, Hodgdon pleaded guilty as an adult to manslaughter after the defense agreed to waive the right to have a hearing to determine whether the teen would be tried as an adult or juvenile. A hearing on that issue had been scheduled for later this month. Manslaughter carries a maximum potential sentence of 30 years in prison while murder has a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years with the potential for life behind bars.
Because of the separate juvenile conviction for assault, Hodgdon was to return to the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland until he turns 21. No details about the juvenile assault case were made public.
He will begin serving his probation on the adult manslaughter charge after he is released from Long Creek.
Zainea said the suspended sentence for manslaughter was agreed upon because of the young age of the defendant, his lack of a criminal record, his efforts to save his father and his accepting responsibility.
Terms of Hodgdon’s probation require he undergo psychological and substance abuse counseling, attain his high-school equivalency degree and not possess any weapons. Hodgdon also is barred from any contact with his father’s parents. During the hearing, the teen told the judge that he had finished seventh grade.
Worth said when the court deals with juveniles, the focus is mainly on rehabilitation while also sending a message to the community. She said when Hodgdon is released at age 21, she hopes he can show his family, friends and community through his behavior that he can make amends.
The defense also initially challenged the state law that determines whether a juvenile is tried as a youth or adult. The defense had asked Worth to rule unconstitutional a state law that puts the burden on the defense to prove a juvenile charged with murder should not be tried as an adult. That motion was dropped as part of the plea deal.