An Orono man convicted of kidnapping and murdering a 15-year-old girl will have his conviction reviewed again.
Kyle Dube, now 33, was convicted in 2015 of the kidnapping and murder of Nichole Cable in May 2013.
Dube filed a post-conviction review of his case because he alleges his attorney at the time was ineffective, his new attorney Jim Howaniec said. Dube also alleges evidence about Nichole’s time of death was not used.
The Office of the Maine Attorney General asked Penobscot County Judge Ann Murray to dismiss the appeal on Tuesday, but she decided the review should move forward.
Members of Nichole’s family cried in court after Murray decided another review will move forward.
Dube, who is sentenced to 60 years in prison, appealed his conviction in 2016, which the Maine Supreme Judicial Court denied a month later.
Dube told his lawyers and other people that he killed Nichole, the judge said. Dube had multiple mental health issues at the time, Howaniec said.
“There are many documented cases of false confessions,” Howaniec said. “This is a very young man, who was mentally ill under great duress.”
Dube created a fake Facebook page and lured Nichole from her mother’s home in Glenburn. Nichole’s mother reported her daughter missing on May 13, 2013. Nichole’s body was found in Old Town days later on May 20.
Dube’s attorney at the time, Stephen Smith, was ineffective, Dube’s new attorney Jim Howaniec said.
A letter from a medical examiner at the time of the trial raised “significant questions” about the time of Nichole’s death. Smith did not tell Dube about that letter, Howaniec said.
Nichole’s time of death may have been while Dube was already in jail, Howaniec said.
He added that it took a contempt of court order against Smith for Dube to receive his case file, and within the file was the report about Nichole’s potential time of death.
More than 500 people turned out to help search for Nichole when she went missing. National and foreign media outlets covered the search, as well as Dube’s arrest and trial. Some called him the “Facebook killer.”
Her parents appeared on “Dr. Phil” and at least two TV true crime shows have covered Dube’s case.
Dube is in custody of the Maine Department of Corrections but he is held in New Hampshire, which is where he appears to have been since 2016.
The review will be a two-day hearing, Howaniec said. It will likely happen next spring.