A Limington man who is awaiting a second trial after his murder conviction was overturned last fall has been released from jail.
Bruce Akers was sentenced to 38 years in prison in November 2020 for murdering his neighbor, Douglas Flint, with whom he had been in a longstanding feud over property boundaries and whom he had accused of stealing a six-pack of alcohol.
However, his sentence was overturned in September 2021 after Akers asserted that York County sheriff’s deputies illegally searched his property when looking for Flint after Flint’s family had reported him missing in June 2016.
Akers remained held on $200,000 bail until a second trial date was determined.
Akers will still appear in court for a second time, but York County Superior Court Justice Wayne Douglas ruled earlier in August that the majority of evidence obtained from the initial search warrant would not be permitted at the next trial, according to the Portland Press Herald. That evidence includes a K-9 search that led officers to Flint’s body and a machete that was allegedly used as the murder weapon.
Akers’ attorney argued that he should be released on personal recognizance, which prosecuting Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis agreed to, the Portland newspaper reported.
Akers is set to take up residence with his brother, court records show, and has agreed not to have any contact with Flint’s family.
A date for Akers’ next trial has not been set.