CARIBOU, Maine — A Florida octogenarian on trial for murder admitted through his attorney in court Wednesday that he killed his 86-year-old friend of four years at the man’s house in Presque Isle last year, but that he did so in self-defense after a fight broke out between the two.
During opening statements in the trial, defense attorney John Tebbetts said that his client, Robert Craig, 81, of Clearwater, Florida, had no choice but to strangle Leo Corriveau in order to survive. Tebbetts said a fight broke out after Corriveau reneged on a promise to take Craig to Hermon to catch a bus and to also pay for his trip back to Florida.
Craig is charged with intentional murder, which carries a prison sentence of 25 years to life. Craig and Corriveau came to Maine to stay at Corriveau’s Presque Isle home on July 12, according to an affidavit filed by Maine State Police Sgt. Darrin Crane.
Craig allegedly killed Corriveau on July 21 at the victim’s Route 1 home, fled with about $400 and Corriveau’s red Buick Enclave SUV to Hermon, then took a bus from there back to Florida.
Tebbetts said Wednesday that after an argument broke out, the two men ended up on the ground with the victim straddling Craig’s stomach and hitting him. The defense attorney said that Craig has chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and asthma and could not breathe, so he put his hands around the victim’s neck and “squeezed until Corriveau let go of him.”
Assistant Attorney General Robert “Bud” Ellis disputed the self-defense theory in his opening statements, saying that Craig killed Corriveau in a rage and callously took his property after leaving the victim’s body in the backyard to be discovered 40 hours later by family members.
Corriveau was strangled so hard that the hyoid bone in his neck was broken, according to former State Medical Examiner Margaret Greenwald, who performed the autopsy. Her report said he also suffered rib fractures on both sides of his chest and multiple layers of hemorrhaging in his neck.
Jurors Wednesday also heard a videotaped interview of Craig conducted by Maine State Police detectives who flew to Florida to talk to him shortly after the murder. In it, Craig told the detectives that Corriveau allowed him to take the car and leave it at the Hermon bus depot. He also said that Corriveau had gifted him the $400, following a promise to pay his way back to Florida.
Craig also is heard telling the detectives during that initial interview that he had no idea that Corriveau had died and that he’d only found out when he got off the bus in Florida. He never mentioned a fight or that he fought for his life in self-defense.
Several of Corriveau’s children testified Wednesday about unsuccessfully trying to contact their father for several days last July. Daughter Dolly Libby and her husband went to the house after two days of being unable to reach her father and discovered Corriveau face down on the ground in the backyard, with his left hand splayed out and his right hand underneath him. He was shirtless, and a blue checkered shirt that surveillance footage showed him wearing on the day of his death was found on the kitchen table. A baseball hat and a pair of glasses with the lenses knocked out were found next to his head.
After noticing the SUV was gone, police contacted OnStar, an in-vehicle navigation and communication system, and located it in Hermon. David Yankowski, a Maine State Police evidence response technician, testified that he processed the vehicle and found a stain that tested positive for blood on the seat of the vehicle. Ellis said that the blood belonged to Corriveau. The family members quickly pointed police toward Craig, as most of Corriveau’s children had met him during his stay in Maine.
Each relative also testified that their father so valued his car that he never let anyone else drive it, not even his own children. They disputed that Corriveau would have given it to Craig to drive.
Justice Harold Stewart II is presiding over the case, which is being decided by a jury.
Craig also is being represented by court appointed Attorney Stephen Smith, who said Wednesday that his client would take the stand in his own defense. Trial testimony is expected to wrap up Thursday.