WISCASSET, Maine — The Waldoboro woman accused of killing her boyfriend in July told investigators she shot him because she feared he was leaving her for another woman, according to a police affidavit filed in Lincoln County Superior Court.
Arline Lawless, who is also known as Arline Seavey, 25, is charged with murder and is scheduled to appear Friday in Lincoln County Superior Court in Wiscasset. Though police have referred to the woman as Arline Seavey, she is identified as Arline Lawless in court documents.
Lawless was arrested Wednesday as she was being discharged from Spring Harbor treatment center in Westbrook. According to an affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Abbe A. Chabot, Lawless shot her boyfriend, Norman Benner, 34, of Waldoboro, in the back of the head while he was sleeping. Approximately five minutes later, she shot herself in the face but the wound was not fatal.
Benner and Lawless were discovered by Benner’s sister on the morning of Monday, July 23, at 2177 Friendship Road in Waldoboro, where the couple had been staying since May with the homeowner, 23-year-old Jeremy McPhee.
It is unclear exactly when the shooting took place, though police have said it was sometime over that weekend.
Waldoboro Police Officer Jeffrey Fuller, responding to a 911 call from Benner’s sister, found Benner dead in a downstairs bedroom and Lawless nearby, injured and incoherent. Lawless was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. The state medical examiner’s office told police later that day that Benner died of a close-contact gunshot wound to the head.
McPhee, the homeowner, who arrived at the residence Monday as police began investigating the crime, told them he had last seen Benner and Lawless on Saturday, July 21, at the residence, and had heard what he thought was snoring coming from their bedroom at about 7:30 p.m. that day.
Benner’s mother and sister told police that Lawless had sent him a series of text messages Saturday, claiming that she was scared of McPhee “because he was acting oddly” and that Benner should return home.
Benner’s relatives said they believed Lawless contrived the story to make Benner return home, and also that Benner had stated to them that he intended to break off the relationship with Lawless.
According to the affidavit, Lawless was interviewed by Maine State Police Detective Corey Pike on July 23, at Maine Medical Center. She allegedly told Pike she shot Benner because he was going to leave her and that she had used a gun she had found in the home that belonged to McPhee.
Lawless made a similar statement to Detective Chabot during a second interview on July 24. Chabot wrote in an affidavit that Lawless called Benner’s mother on July 25 and again said she had shot Benner because he was going to leave her.
According to court documents, Lawless, who has a 7-year-old child, is a tattoo artist in the Waldoboro area who recently had an address on Park Street in Rockland. Her court-appointed attorney is Philip Cohen of Waldoboro.
Lawless also faces an assault charge in a separate case. The documents indicate she allegedly assaulted a woman in Waldoboro on May 9, and pleaded not guilty to that charge on June. 13.
Is any man worth going to prison over? Now her child will be motherless, a senseless killing.
Is any person worth going to prison over? Unless you are talking about self-defense or war, most killings are senseless.
Your concern seems to lie in the fact that she will now have to spend a life in prison and her child will be motherless. What about the fact that an innocent man has now senselessly lost his life because she couldn’t stand to think of him being with another woman?
There goes the self-defense defense.
odd… only two comments; it must be because this isn’t a story where the regulars can vent all their man hate.
This woman obviously has some serious emotional and psychological issues. If she were to be evaluated, she would probably been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. One of the telling signs is that she reported shooting her boyfriend because she feared he was going to leave her for another woman. Although most with BPD would not go to the extreme like this, they are known to fear abandonment and to go to extreme measures to avoid it.
You read a book that’s nice, that being said I’m sure she has some ‘other’ issues than just an Axis II personality disorder.
I have read a lot of books but more important, I have worked with a number of people with BPD in my professional career, which spans over 25 years. So I know a little more about it than the general public. Granted, that may not be the only issue here, but it is more than likely that it is an issue. So spare me your condescending attitude.
As a person with BPD I agree with you, we with BPD do have a major fear of abandonment.
Bit late for analyzing now.
Yup. But that never stops anyone.
You assume you’re the only one who has a ‘professional’ career working in the mental health field for over 25 years- get in line. An individual diagnosed with BPD (an Axis II disorder) will generally always have a co-occurring comorbidity of an Axis I disorder. Are you qualified to clinically diagnose people? I am. Do you have any background in Neuroscience? I do. Have you worked with the forensic population? I do. Have you worked with domestic assault perpetrators? I do. Individuals diagnosed with BPD focus on being violent and self abusive toward them selves as well as having interpersonal strife and conflict with others (strife and conflict do not correlate to murder in a relationship.) Correlation does not imply causation.
So my point being that unless you, or anyone for that matter, have actually examined this person and developed a working clinical profile, while taking into consideration The Axis I and Axis II possibilities along with all the other psychosocial mitigating factors that were occurring in this person’s life (Axis IV disorders), and any medical and neurological factors that may be affecting this person (Axis III) and what her GAF score was (Axis V)- it’s really easy to make assumptions based on reading a very short article. Assumptions which are irrelevant and frankly irresponsible. Which is why I would not attempt to armchair diagnose this individual as you did. So pardon my condescension, but none of us have an absolute understanding of what frame of mind this person was in when this domestic murder took place
If your hypothesis was accurate then all the males who kill their female companions whose relationship were failing could be also diagnosed with BPD, but we know this isn’t the case as evidenced by the statistics. Domestic violence is about power and control. Individuals who feel they are loosing control often become desperate. The most dangerous time in a domestic abuse situation is when one person opts to leave the relationship so the statistic indicate. Research domestic violence.http://www.mhafc.org/pdf/BorderlinePersonalityDisorder2.pdfhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115767/ http://www.acadv.org/facts.html
I think you have BMD….(big mouth disease! Blah Blah Blah, toot toot toot on your little horn, you could join a circus with an act like that!)
Hostile much?
‘I have no need to defend myself or to resort to name calling.’ yet you have clearly done both…….interesting.
I don’t see where I have used name-calling, though I will acknowledge that I may have defended myself. But only because it is normal to stand up for oneself when under attack. Seriously, there is some serious cyber-bullying going on on these pages It is either go along with other people’s interpretation of what I said or what I meant, or be quiet. Well, it is not my nature to do either. Until I have had enough, which is right about NOW!!
I was commenting about one particular individual, and only expressing an opinion. I do not have to play my credentials are better than yours. I do not have to justify myself to you. I wonder why someone with your knowledge and experience was so bothered by my response to your consdescending attitude that you wrote this screed in response. The funny thing is that opinions are like anuses, in that everybody has one. You are entitled to your opinion. I just don’t place any value on it.
Wow, take a breath and come down off of your high horse, I’m now assured that it is a great gift from God that I don’t have to sit on a chair in a Room with you and poor out my feeling!
I think that we are both happy about that. God is good.
First of all “This woman obviously has some serious emotional and psychological issues.” in no way indicates an opinion. That is a statement of opinionated fact, so stop trying to back track and just own up to it.
“I wonder why someone with your knowledge and experience was so bothered by my response” How would a rocket scientist feel if a high school science teacher tried to offer an opinion on how their rocket should be built? Probably be a little offended, maybe?
“You are entitled to your opinion. I just don’t place any value on it.” And your right we most certainly should not listen to people who may know more than us on a particular subject because they don’t totally agree with our own view.
Finally, just doing something for a long time doesn’t make you a expert…an example, I’ve been cooking for 25+ years but that doesn’t make me a world class chef! Oh, brother!
I do not know why this bothers you enough to have to tell me a thing or two. But I am not going to apologize for doing what other people do every day, which is express an opinion on an article that is written in the paper. I have a right to do that, regardless of what you might think of me or my opinion.
You must be the mayor of Thicktown…because you just don’t get it do you? I don’t care about your opinion on the matter, in fact you are probably on the right track with your original “diagnosis”. My problem is your reaction to the replies and the arrogance you exude in them, this last being no different. Please have some humility and learn to take some criticism…it does not make you less of a person (hint for you: it makes you more). Good luck to you, it’s never too late.
Friends in AA say it best. “What you think of me is none of my business.” You do not know me, you only think you know me based on posts in this forum. I would advise you to take your own inventory and I will take mine. I have had my say, I am done with this discussion.
U GO GIRL!!!
do you and your high horse read the lady’s original post? She says ‘if’ she were to be diagnosed then ‘probably’.
let it go.
I have worked with a lot of people who had all kinds of mental and physiological conditions in my professional career. That doesn’t make me a doctor. I think you’re the one with a condescending attitude.
Good for you. You are entitled to your opinion.
Call it an opinion if you wish. You’re the one who wrote an unqualified diagnosis based on what you read in a news story. Go back and carefully read all your posts. Then look in the mirror. Do you see a fool there? What do you think others are seeing? There’s a brake pedal and you need to find it.
That might really bother me if I gave any value at all to what you think. And since when do people have to have the proper credentials to offer their opinion? I have nothing further to say on this particular subject. I have no need to defend myself or to resort to name calling. Good evening to you.
yeah, whatever
My INTP personality makes me question authority lol
Why was she in Spring Harbor? Doesnt say anything about her having a mental illness, or was she there for an avaluation?
I think attempted suicide would qualify for a stint there…
she’s 25 right? why does she look 50? bmw
Is the photo pre or post self face shooting?
she’s wearing yellow which means the mental ward at the jail…..
i think yellow just means female.
hey stupid was it really worth it??? you wont have to worry about breaking up with BOYs anymore where your going for many years….
Not sure if serious.
/meme
Psycho!
We have one life, what a pity some choose to destroy it.
What, no candlelight vigil for the victim of domestic violence? Oh, that’s right, it was a man. To all those out there in the man bashing peanut gallery, please take a real good look at this. The mirage that this only happens to women needs to stop. Domestic Violence knows no gender.
She is down right ugly beast for killing him.
Only for killing him? You had me at your first six words!
Hey, Ms Lawless/Seavey, or whoever you are this week. Was it worth it? You killed someone because you feared he would abandon you. What about your Child? You will be abandoning your 7 year old now because you were not bright enough to let go of a guy. There are always other guys, your child only has one Mother and you won’t be it for a long time. Not smart.
She is one scary looking chick! I hope I never cross paths with her in this life time or the next! My condolences to the family of the innocent victim and her child that will now have to grow up with his mother in prison…sad, sad, sad all around!
Nothing like living up to every available stereotype out there, right down to the A.K.A. last name…it’s a shame. People like this fine woman are doing their part every day to keep Maine’s title secure as the Mississippi of the north.