HOULTON, Maine — Police testified Tuesday that they found several articles of clothing, a hammer and a folding knife that all tested positive for blood when they searched the home of the 20-year-old defendant who is accused of beating and stabbing a Houlton man to death two years ago.
State Police Sgt. Jason Richards testified that a long trench coat, a sneaker, gloves and the alleged murder weapons were found at the home of Reginald Dobbins, who is accused killing of 61-year-old Keith Suitter on March 1, 2015.
Richards was one of five people to testify in Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton on the second day of the jury trial being presided over by Justice Hal Stewart II. A total of 61 witnesses are expected to take the stand.
Dr. Martin Flomenbaum, the state medical examiner who conducted Suitter’s autopsy, told Assistant Attorney General John Alsop Tuesday that the victim suffered 21 blunt-force trauma blows, consistent with having been inflicted by a hammer, and 10 stab wounds to the head and back. The blows during the attack fractured Suitter’s skull, lacerated his brain, and penetrated his lung. His body was found in a blood stained living room, the contents of his wallet scattered around him. The longtime Houlton resident and military veteran ran a painting business and lived alone.
Dobbins, who was wearing a black suit and pink tie, carried a Bible into the courtroom Tuesday and sat with it on his table during the testimony. His defense attorney, Hunter Tzovarras, said during opening arguments on Monday, that another teenager, Samuel Geary of Houlton, who was 16 when Suitter was killed, committed the crime. Geary also was charged with murder and pleaded guilty in Washington County Superior Court in Machias on May 25. A sentencing date for Geary has not been set. He is on a list of potential witnesses who might be asked to testify against Dobbins.
Robert E. Brewer of Houlton, who was an inmate with Dobbins in the same security section at the Aroostook County Jail, testified for the state Tuesday that Dobbins first told him he had killed Suitter before changing his story to blame Geary. Under questioning from Tzovarras, Brewer admitted to having an extensive criminal history and could not recall all the charges that had been filed against him in his life. Tzovarras pressed Brewer on the witness stand to acknowledge that he received a shortened sentence for testifying against Dobbins, but Brewer said that he had only come forward “because a life had been lost.”
The defense attorney also got Brewer to acknowledge having looked at other prisoners’ court documents while they were incarcerated at the county jail. Brewer denied, however, ever seeing any of Dobbins’ paperwork or any details about the allegations against Dobbins.
Richards and two other members of the Maine State Police evidence response team provided details Tuesday of their searches of the Dobbins and Geary homes. Photographs displayed in court showed the knife allegedly used in the killing, which was located on a stand in Dobbins bedroom, and the hammer that was found in a drawer.
No testimony was offered Tuesday concerning DNA testing on the blood or alleged murder weapons.
Photographs of Geary, taken several days after the murder, showed a significant cut on Geary’s finger as well as some scrapes and bruising on his body. Geary testified in a hearing last year that he was pressured to take part in the crime after a day of drinking and using drugs. According to Geary, he and Dobbins went to Suitter’s home to buy drugs. After Dobbins had gotten into the home using the ruse that his vehicle had broken down, Geary alleged, Dobbins pulled a hammer out of his jacket and began striking Suitter. Geary also said that he cut himself after trying to stab Suitter because the folding knife didn’t open all the way and that Dobbins then grabbed the knife from him and stabbed the victim.
According to police reports previously filed with the court, the two teens then stole marijuana and money from Suitter and tried to escape in his truck before crashing it into a ditch a short distance away.
The trial will continue Wednesday and is expected to last through the week.