| October 29, 1957 |
Dennis John Dechaine born. |
| 1966 |
His mother, Julia, died when Dennis was 9 years old. |
| 1971 |
His father Donald (Donat in French), died when Dennis was 14
years old. |
| Summers 1975, 1976 |
Dennis selected for and participates in Upward Bound Program
at Bowdoin College. |
| May 5, 1976 |
Sarah Cherry born to Debra Cherry and Gilbert Austin. |
| June, 1976 |
Dennis graduated from Madawaska High School with 158
classmates and then went to work in Brunswick at George Christopher's
sheep farm. (Recently, George Christopher has reconnected with
Dennis, as censored and non-responded mail led him to believe that
Dennis did not want to maintain a connection.) |
| Summer, 1977 |
Dennis and his friend, Steve Young, canoe the Allagash River
from Long and Umsaskis Lakes down to Fort Kent. |
| December, 1979 |
Dennis graduated from Vermont Technical College near the top
of his class after majoring in agricultural business management. |
| January, 1980 |
Dennis moved to Washington State and later enrolled in
Western Washington University. |
| Fall 1980 |
Enrolled in Western Washington University, Bellingham |
| Jan, 1981 |
James Tierney becomes Maine Attorney General |
| Fall, 1981 |
In sophomore year, he met future wife, Nancy Emmons, and
studied languages with a major in French. |
| 1982 |
The short story by Stephen King, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank
Redemption" is published in the collection, "Different Seasons" |
| June, 1983 |
Nancy and Dennis graduate from Western Washington Univ. |
| Sept, 1983 |
Nancy and Dennis are married in Colorado Springs, Colorado
where her parents lived, and they move back to Maine. |
| 1984-1988 |
Dennis and Nancy built farming businesses, including
vegetables, flowers and Christmas wreaths from store and mail order. |
| Fall, 1986 |
Dennis selected for Rotary International fellowship, and
travels to India for 4 weeks, with his friend Kent Wommack. |
| January, 1987 |
John McKernan, Jr. becomes Governor of Maine. |
| 1987 |
Purchased home in Bowdoinham from Richardson/Temple family. |
| 1987 |
Dennis elected as one of three members of Farmers Home
Administration county committee for Sagadahoc and Lincoln Counties. |
| July 1-5, 1988 |
Nancy and Dennis to Madawaska for Dechaine family reunion,
July 4 celebration and vacation of swimming and canoeing. Return
home on the 5th. |
| July 6, 1988 |
9:10 a.m. Sarah Cherry begins babysitting assignment at
"Roland" home. (Names in quotes are not real names.) |
| |
12 noon. "Marjorie Roland" calls home and Sarah and
baby are fine. |
| |
Between 12:00 noon and 3:20 p.m. Sarah Cherry abducted. |
| |
3:20 p.m. "Marjorie Roland" returns home to find baby safe,
but Sarah Cherry is missing. The two documents found in the
driveway with Dennis Dechaine's name on them lead police to begin
searching for him, as well as for Sarah Cherry. |
| |
8:30 p.m. Dennis Dechaine is seen coming out of the woods as
he is lost and looking for his truck, and at 8:45 is picked up by
neighbors, the Buttricks, who try to help him find his truck. |
| |
9:20 p.m. A
police car meets up with the Buttricks and Dennis Dechaine transfers
into the police car thinking that the police can help him find his
truck. Immediately, he is questioned by police about the missing
Sarah Cherry and remains in back seat of a police car for 8
hours. He is returned home at 4:00 a.m. July 7, and kept under
police surveillance thereafter until his arrest on Friday, the 8th.
|
| July 7, 1988 |
2:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Sarah Cherry is killed during this
period according to State Medical Examiner at subsequent trial.
He said that, based upon the degree of rigor mortis, she died between
30 and 36 hours prior to her body being examined on Friday
(below). The period 30-36 hours prior to the 2:00 p.m. Friday
exam would make the time of death between 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
Thursday morning. Thus, by the state's own witness' testimony,
Sarah Cherry likely died 5 1/2 hours AFTER Dennis Dechaine emerged from
the woods whereupon his presence was entirely monitored by
witnesses. She very likely died by someone else's
hand while Dennis was in police custody as police were focused entirely
on him, rather than continuing to fully search for other suspects. |
| July 8, 1988 |
12:20 p.m. Sarah Cherry's body found. |
| |
2:00 p.m. Dr. Roy, medical examiner, examines Sarah
Cherry's body at site found. |
| |
Dennis Dechaine arrested and jailed. It has been 6705
days since this date. When is the State of Maine going to correct this
injustice? |
| Jan. 26, 1989 |
Motion for testing of DNA filed, but denied at a hearing
several days later. |
| March 6, 1989 |
Trial begins in
Rockland, Maine, with Dennis Dechaine represented by Tom Connolly of
Portland., and George Carlton. The testimony by Dr. Roy omits any
statement of the time of death as he states that it occurred 30-36
hours prior to his initial examination of Sarah Cherry's body.
|
| March 18, 1989 |
Found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by Judge Carl
Bradford on April 4, 1989. |
| May 4, 1989 |
First meeting of Trial & Error, organized by Carol
Waltman. |
| July 8, 1989 |
Completed 1st year of jail/prison |
| Oct. 16, 1989 |
Tom Connolly files appeal of conviction. |
| March 15, 1990 |
Maine Supreme Judicial Court denies appeal. See
OPINION OF COURT. |
| May 4, 1990 |
Appeal of sentence denied by Maine Supreme Court, AD-89-27.
(source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice Marden) |
| July 8, 1990 |
Completed 2d year of jail/prison |
| Jan, 1991 |
Michael Carpenter becomes Maine Attorney General. |
| July 8, 1991 |
Completed 3rd year of jail/prison |
| March 20, 1992 |
Daniel Wathen appointed Chief Justice of Maine Supreme
Judicial Court. Was appointed to Court on August 31, 1981. |
| March 31, 1992 |
Office of Attorney General orders that the Rape Kit and hairs
found with Sarah Cherry's body, but not obviously belonging to her nor
to Dennis Dechaine, be incinerated. |
| May 5, 1992 |
Thumbnail clippings are given to Tom Connolly by Superior
Court Clerk. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice
Marden) |
| May 5, 1992 |
Motion for New Trial filed. (source: Post Conviction review
opinion by Justice Marden) |
| May 25, 1992 |
Front page article in the Sun-Journal about the Motion for
New Trial, "Dechaine feels he was framed - Convicted killer says walk
in the woods was his undoing.", and an interview with Dennis
Dechaine. Also, an article about Trial and Error "Supporters say
mission now unclear." |
| June, 1992 |
Trial and Error holds meeting in Unitarian Church in
Brunswick, and retired ATF agent, Jim Moore, attends. |
| June 18, 1992 |
Rape kit and other biological evidence incinerated per order
of the Attorney General. |
| July 2, 1992 |
Hearing begins
before Judge Bradford on Motion for a retrial on basis of new
evidence. Hearings are held on July 2,8 and 9. See PHOTO
of Trial and Error members who came to Hearing. For list of those
in photo click on PHOTO
T&E SUPPORTERS AT FIRST(!) RETRIAL HEARING.
|
| July 8, 1992 |
Completed 4th year of jail/prison |
| July 31, 1992 |
Motion for a Retrial was denied by Judge Carl Bradford.
See
DECISION OF COURT |
| November, 1992 |
Mark Westrum elected Sheriff, Sagadahoc County |
| February 14, 1992 |
Carol Waltman contacts Peter Neufeld of the Innocence Project
about testing for DNA underneath the fingernails of Sarah Cherry.
|
| June 10, 1993 |
Thumbnail clippings are sent to CBR lab for DNA testing.
(source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice Marden) |
| July 8, 1993 |
Completed 5th year of jail/prison |
| August 26, 1993 |
Maine's Supreme Court affirms the denial of the bid for a new
trial. See
DECISION OF COURT |
| August, 1993 |
CBR Lab determines that there are two "donors" of DNA in the
mixture of blood underneath a thumbnail of Sarah Cherry. For later
determinations, see "May 24, 1994" below. |
| December 13, 1993 |
Maine Atty. General files motion seeking return of exhibits,
including blood/skin samples, mistakenly given to Tom Connolly, and
which he had tested for DNA. |
| December 20, 1993 |
Superior Court orders Tom Connolly to return the thumbnail
clippings. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice
Marden) |
| April 22, 1994 |
Dennis Dechaine's blood sample is forwarded to CBR lab for
comparison with unidentified DNA found underneath Sarah Cherry's
thumbnail. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice
Marden) |
| May 4, 1994 |
Dennis Dechaine is informed that his DNA was not on the
thumbnail clippings. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by
Justice Marden) |
| May 24, 1994 |
CBR Laboratories
in Boston completes testing of DNA and finds "two or more donors" in
one sample, with one being the victim and the second being a person
other than Dennis Dechaine.
[ It has been
4559 days since this date. When is the State of
Maine going to accept these or any DNA tests and correct this
injustice? If the State of Maine had reinvestigated the case at
this point, or moved for a trial or simply released Dennis Dechaine, he
would have been approximately the 20th prisoner released through DNA
testing, according to the Innocence Project. As of March 10,
2005, that number has increased to 159, and Dennis is not yet among
them.]
|
| July 8, 1994 |
Completed 6th year of jail/prison |
| July 8, 1994 |
Maine's Supreme Court orders the return the exhibits to the
Attorney General's office and does not address the results of the
testing of the DNA. See
DECISION OF COURT |
| September 1, 1994 |
Meeting of Trial and Error with Atty General Mike Carpenter
and Asst. A.G. Eric Wright, where Wright said, "Dechaine confessed and
we have it on tape." The meeting ended with Dechaine's supporters
shattered. No one thought to ask why such a "confession" had not
been shown to the jury. Since that meeting, Author Jim Moore has viewed
the tapes and no such confession exists, or even comes close to
existing. A recent affidavit
, signed by six of the attendees at that meeting, confirm the above
statement by Eric Wright. Also confirmed is Wright's statement
that Mark Westrum's handwritten notes were "unavailable" even though
Westrum faxed them to Wright that very same day. See Affidavit/Letter
from six of the Attendees |
| September 23, 1994 |
"The Shawshank Redemption" is released to theaters. It
earned 7 Academy Award nominations, but no awards, as it lost out to
"Forrest Gump" and Tom Hanks. |
| January, 1995 |
Andrew Ketterer becomes Maine Attorney General, and Angus
King, Jr. becomes Governor. |
| July 8, 1995 |
Completed 7th year of jail/prison |
| September 29, 1995 |
Dennis files his "Post-Conviction Review" petition, pro
se. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice
Marden) |
| April 16, 1996 |
Paul Boots, Atty, enters appearance on behalf of Dennis.
(source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice Marden) |
| April 22, 1996 |
Superior Court grants State's Motion to Depose George Carlton. |
| June 17, 1996 |
State files Motion to Dismiss Dennis' Post Conviction Review
petition. (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice Marden) |
| July 8, 1996 |
Completed 8th year of jail/prison |
| July 8, 1997 |
Completed 9th year of jail/prison |
| December 29, 1997 |
Dennis Dechaine files a Motion to Test Third Party's Saliva
(Senecal?). (source: Post Conviction review opinion by Justice
Marden) |
| January 16, 1998 |
Hearing held on pending motions for Post-Conviction Review
and for testing of saliva. (source: Post Conviction review
opinion by Justice Marden) |
| July 8, 1998 |
Completed 10th year of jail/prison |
| January 9, 1999 |
Justice Marden denies Post Conviction review. See DECISION
OF COURT |
| July 8, 1999 |
Completed 11th year of jail/prison |
| April 26, 2000 |
Writ of Habeas Corpus petition filed in Federal Court by
Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project and Maine atty Gene Libby. |
| July 8, 2000 |
Completed 12th year of jail/prison |
| July, 2000 |
Writ of Habeas Corpus in Federal District Court on grounds
that trial violated Federal standards. Denied. See DECISION
OF U.S. DISTRICT COURT MAGISTRATE Dennis chooses not
to appeal out of despair. Later, he changes his mind, but it was
too late. |
| Jan, 2001 |
Steven Rowe becomes Maine Attorney General. |
| Summer, 2001 |
Maine passes Chapter 469 of the Acts of 2001, the DNA Testing
Law. It gave inmates the RIGHT to DNA testing AND it made illegal
the destruction of DNA-related evidence illegal (9 years too late for
Dennis Dechaine, but the new law's prohibition speaks to the morality
of the incineration of the rape kit and unidentified hairs by the
Attorney General's Office in 1992. |
| July 8, 2001 |
Completed 13th year of jail/prison |
| December 6, 1001 |
Leigh Saufley appointed Chief Justice, Maine Supreme Judicial
Court. |
| July 8, 2002 |
Completed 14th year of jail/prison |
| October 10, 2002 |
Author Jim Moore publishes "Human Sacrifice" with the
conclusion that Dennis Dechaine is an innocent man, and that the real
killer of Sarah Cherry is at large. |
| January 8, 2003 |
John Baldacci becomes Governor of Maine. |
| May, 2003 |
Motion for DNA Testing and Retrial filed with Knox County
Superior Court. |
| Summer, 2003 |
Maine Passes Chapter 18 of the Special laws of the 121st
Session, which opened the files of the Sarah Cherry/Dennis Dechaine
case to the public. |
| July 8, 2003 |
Completed 15th year of jail/prison |
| February 2, 2003 |
Dennis Dechaine Day I, in the Hall of Flags at the State
House. |
| February 8, 2004 |
Private Investigator Tom Cumler interviews alternate suspect,
Doug Senecal at Senecal's home in Florida. Senecal refused to
contribute a DNA sample (hair, blood or saliva) and seemed to imply
that he would not be surprised if the DNA found underneath Sarah
Cherry's thumbnail belonged to him. Senecal was asked whether he
would be worried if the DNA found was his, and his response was "Bingo,
there you go." |
| April, 2004 |
Missing extract used for 1993/94 testing is located and will
be submitted for retesting. |
| Summer, 2004 |
Maine passes the "Dennis Dechaine Law", which requires the
video or audio taping of interrogations or admissions. |
| July 8, 2004 |
Completed 16th year of jail/prison |
| July 8, 2004 |
DNA Tests reveal that a man's DNA was mixed in with the blood
underneath Sarah Cherry's thumbnail. |
| July 21, 2004 |
Attorney Michaela Murphy files Motions to, first identify
state employees who might have mistakenly contaminated the thumbnail
DNA extract and second to require the state to inform the defense of
other DNA-Related activity. Also filed was an affidavit from Tom
Cumler about his February 8, 2004 interview with Doug Senecal. |
| October 29, 2004 |
Dennis Dechaine Day II at Maine State House. |
| December, 2004 |
Representative Ross Paradis (D-Frenchville) introduced
Legislative Request (L.R. 2115) which is a Resolution urging Attorney
General Steven Rowe to support a retrial for Dennis Dechaine. |
| December 11, 2004 |
Supporters of Dennis Dechaine hold Walkathon of 6,000 steps,
around a city block in Augusta, to commemorate exactly 6,000 days of
wrongful imprisonment since July 8, 1988. |
| January, 2005 |
Steve Rowe sworn in to begin his
third term as Maine Attorney General.
|
| January 8, 2005 |
Dennis Dechaine completed 16 1/2 years of wrongful
imprisonment. |
| January 12, 2005 |
Dennis Dechaine Day III in the Hall of Flags, State House. |
| April 4, 2005 |
A public opinion poll finds that 54% of Maine registered
voters support a new trial for Dennis Dechaine. Twenty-five
percent oppose a new trial and 21% are not sure or have no
opinion. |
| April 21, 2005 |
Freedom March/Walkathon for Dennis Dechaine, from the State
Prison to August, a total of 41 miles. |
| September 23, 2005 |
Hearing on Dennis's May, 2003 Motion for a New Trial, 27
months after its May, 2003 filing. At the hearing, Dennis
withdrew the Motion for New Trial, after Judge Bradford ruled that he
would consider only evidence in the case as was known in 1992, the date
of the hearing of the first Motion for Retrial. Dennis and his
lawyers announced the plan to seek changes in the DNA law in the
Legislature. |
| October 29, 2005 |
Dennis's birthday. He is now 48 years old, and has
spent 17 1/2 years in prison, from July 8, 1988. |
| November 16, 2005 |
Judge Carl Bradford ruled that Dennis's withdrawal of the
Motion for a New Trial is "without prejudice", which means that he can
refile the Motion, as Dennis plans to do, after the DNA testing statute
is modified by the Legislature - so that the law will permit up-to-date
evidence of innocence to be considered at any future hearing on such a
motion. |
January 2006
|
Publication of State Secrets by
Jim Moore. author of Human Sacrifice. The book details evidence
unearthed after October 2002 publication of Human Sacrifice.
|
February 15, 2006
|
Public Hearing by the Joint
Committee on the Judiciary on LD 1907, the bill to amend Maine's DNA
testing statute.
|
May 30, 2006
|
Governor John Baldacci signs
Chapter 659, of the laws of the 122nd Legislative Session. The
amendments lowered the previously excessive burden on inmates to prove
their innocence through DNA testing.
|
August 2006
|
Publication of updated Human
Sacrifice, familiarly called HS II, by Jim Moore. This volume tells the
entire story, including evidence uncovered after publication of the 1st
edition.
|
July 20, 2006
|
Showing of "After Innocence" at
Maine International Film Festival in Waterville. The documentary
film depicts the stories of several men freed from life sentences or
death sentences by DNA testing.
|
August 21, 2006
|
Three person panel issues report
on the five allegations of police or prosecutorial misconduct in the
Dennis Dechaine case. Without a hearing or transcriptions of
testimony or opportunity for Dennis Dechaine supporters to provide any
input to the Commission, it decided that there was no such
misconduct. Trial and Error had written three letters to the
Commission at its inception in 2004, but there was no response, whether
by communication or by action.
|
September 1, 2006
|
Effective date of the DNA
statute amendments, Chapter 659.
|
October 29, 2006
|
Dennis's birthday. He is
now 49 years old, and has spent 18 1/2 years in prison, from July 8,
1988.
|
