Dennis Edgecomb

Case record: Dennis Edgecomb

Status and sentence

Dennis Edgecomb pleaded guilty to murder at the beginning of the sentencing hearing. The court sentenced Edgecomb to 35 years in the custody of the Maine Department of Corrections on January 29, 2012.

The court ordered Edgecomb to pay $1,225 to the Maine Victims Compensation Program and $500 to Green’s family so that they may purchase a burial marker for her grave.

Timeline

• July 20, 2010 — Pamela Green was strangled at the Morrill home where Dennis Edgecomb lived with her.
• July 21, 2010 — Edgecomb made his first court appearance; he was held without bail until his status conference on Aug. 24 or until a special Harnish hearing was requested to seek bail.
• January 29, 2012 — Edgecomb was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Background

Pamela Green was 42 years old. Dennis Edgecomb was 41 at sentencing and had been formerly of Belfast.

Hannah Green was Pamela Green’s daughter and was 25 years old. Pamela Green’s family also included her sister-in-law, April Small, and a sister-in-law-in-law-relative described as asking a question for Edgecomb in court.

Family members said Green and Edgecomb had been in a relationship for about a year before Green’s death. According to family members, Green and Edgecomb lived together at Green’s Morrill home.

Edgecomb declined to give a statement to the court.

The offence

The prosecutor described Green’s death as a strangulation death at Edgecomb’s sentencing hearing.

Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea stated:

“Strangulation involves a very high level of intentional contact, … It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. For a period of time, Pam Green was alive, and struggling for her life. That suggests a very high level of intent … Pam Green did not die instantly. One can only imagine the horror that she experienced.”

Emergency responders found Green lying between a coffee table and the couch, with bruises and injuries around her neck. Zainea said Green had no signs of a pulse.

Autopsy results included in the court document indicated visible bruising around the neck and other injuries “consistent with manual strangulation.”

A police affidavit stated that Green’s face was covered with a cushion. The affidavit also stated that Edgecomb stopped choking Green when she stopped moving.

According to Zainea, one aggravating factor for sentencing was that Green was strangled.

Investigation

A text message sent to Hannah Green at 11:01 a.m. by her mother stated:

“He’s threatening to kill me right now, call and you can hear it.”

Zainea said that if the murder case had gone to trial, the state would have called as a witness the 911 dispatcher who received a call from Edgecomb at 12:01 p.m. on July 20, 2010.

Zainea said Edgecomb told detectives he strangled a woman and attempted to do CPR on her, and that she was not breathing and had not been breathing for quite some time. Zainea also said Edgecomb had made the 911 call after he stopped choking Green.

Zainea stated that Edgecomb told his boss at Belfast Variety that he could not come to work because he could not get a ride, and then told her he had killed a woman and that they had had a fight. Zainea said Edgecomb asked Pam if she wanted to die, and she said she did.

Zainea said Edgecomb spoke with a co-worker that day and said that Green had “flipped out” on him earlier that day, and that he choked her. Zainea also said Edgecomb later told police that the two began fighting when Green found out he wanted to move out of the home where they lived together.

Zainea recounted that when Waldo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matt Curtis arrived at the home, he sat in the kitchen with Edgecomb, who began making unsolicited remarks. Zainea said Edgecomb told Curtis that he “just couldn’t stop,” and as he said that he made squeezing motions with his hand.

Zainea said Edgecomb told police that the two had been arguing earlier that day, that Green began to “flail out” at him, and that she never hit him. Zainea said Edgecomb wrestled her over to the couch and began squeezing her around the neck.

Zainea said Edgecomb indicated that he “lost it” and that Green had never been able to place her hands on him.

Arrest and first court appearance

Detective Scott Bryant of the Maine State Police wrote in a probable cause affidavit that Edgecomb told a 911 dispatcher that he had just strangled a woman in the Morrill home they shared and that he did not think she was going to live. Bryant wrote:

“He said he did not want to kill her,”
“He said she drove him to [expletive] do it. … He then asked the dispatcher to hold on because he was going to be sick.”

Bryant also wrote that Green had sent the 11:01 a.m. text message to her daughter Hannah Green stating:

Edgecomb made his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon. He stood beside his court-appointed attorney as Justice Jeffrey Hjelm briefly notified Edgecomb of the murder charge he was facing.

Justice Hjelm agreed to have Edgecomb held without bail until his status conference on Aug. 24 or until defense attorney Jeremy Pratt requested a special Harnish hearing to seek bail.

In court, a courtroom audience included friends and relatives of Green, most of whom did not want to give a statement to the press.

Trial

Edgecomb pleaded guilty to murder at the beginning of the sentencing hearing.

His defense attorney was Jeremy Pratt. Zainea and Pratt recommended that Edgecomb be sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Sentencing

Morrill family members and Pamela Green’s family members addressed the court at sentencing. Zainea launched into a description of the strangulation death of Pamela Green at the sentencing hearing.

Zainea said that Edgecomb was not high on drugs or alcohol that day despite having a history of substance abuse. She said:

“He had his wits about him and could have stopped at any time,”
and:

Zainea said Edgecomb had a criminal record, though most prior convictions were misdemeanor crimes.

Mitigating factors included that Edgecomb had a history of being employed, had family support, and most importantly accepted responsibility for the murder.

Edgecomb did not provide a statement to the court. In an almost inaudible voice, he told the justice that he pleaded guilty to the charge of murder.

Justice Robert Murray sentenced Edgecomb to 35 years. Zainea said the defense and the state recommended 35 years.

Pamela Green’s sister-in-law, April Small, addressed the judge and asked:

“He wasn’t married to Pam. He didn’t own the house. Why didn’t he walk away?”
“He took away a mother, a sister, an aunt, a niece, a sister-in-law. No matter how many years Dennis has in prison, at least he still has his life, miserable and restricted though that may be … No one deserves to lose someone in that fashion."

Other people and statements mentioned

Dana Bagley, who lived next door to Green, said:

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,”
“I should’ve been able to hear something. I should’ve been able to do something.”

Alex Gilgan of Brewer, a friend of Green’s daughter Hannah, said of Pamela Green:

“She was awesome,”
and: “She was a lot of fun.”

Di Bartlett said:

“It’s awful,”

Ron Benjamin, who owned Belfast Variety, said:

“Workwise, he’s great,”
and: “I think there’s more to the story than we all know.”

Benjamin said he was surprised to hear about Green’s death. He also said Edgecomb called in sick because “somebody beat him up.”

Benjamin stated he was expecting Edgecomb to work Tuesday afternoon, and that Sharon Benjamin received a phone call from Edgecomb telling her what had happened at Pamela Green’s house. Benjamin said Edgecomb told Sharon to “Call 911.”

Ron Benjamin said:

“She said, ‘Call 911,’”
and: “She would never have expected this.”

Victim details

Pamela Green was 42 years old. She died as a result of strangulation described in court.

Pamela Green’s injuries included bruises and injuries around her neck, and the autopsy found bruising around the neck and injuries consistent with manual strangulation. A police affidavit stated Green’s face was covered with a cushion and that Edgecomb stopped choking her when she stopped moving.

Green had other children besides Hannah Green, including Felicia and Tim.

Evidence and medical actions

Edgecomb attempted to do CPR after he stopped choking Green, but Zainea said it did not work and that Green had not been breathing for quite some time.

A Belfast Ambulance crew arrived and pronounced Green dead.

Deputy James Porter arrived and performed CPR on Green immediately after observing Green lying on the floor with her shirt pulled up.

Substance abuse and prior record

Zainea stated Edgecomb had a history of substance abuse but was not high on drugs or alcohol that day.

The Maine State Bureau of Identification criminal history record provided in the court materials included convictions for misdemeanor theft in 1988 and operating under the influence in 2001.

Names and places

• Dennis Edgecomb — defendant
• Pamela Green — victim
• Hannah Green — victim’s daughter (25 years old)
• April Small — Pamela Green’s sister-in-law
• Justice Robert Murray — judge at sentencing
• Justice Jeffrey Hjelm — judge at first court appearance
• Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea — prosecutor
• Jeremy Pratt — defense attorney
• Detective Scott Bryant — Maine State Police
• Detective Dean Jackson — detective named in the affidavit
• Waldo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Matt Curtis — deputy who arrived at the home
• Waldo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy James Porter — deputy who performed CPR
• North Main Street — location of the Morrill home where Green was found
• Morrill, Maine — town where the killing occurred and the home was located
• Belfast, Maine — Edgecomb was formerly of Belfast; Belfast Variety was referenced
• Maine Department of Corrections — custody location after sentencing
• Maine Victims Compensation Program — compensation program receiving $1,225