ELLSWORTH, Maine—A Hancock County jury found a 35-year-old Bangor man guilty of murder Wednesday in a fatal shooting over drug money last July in Amherst.
Jurors deliberated less than an hour before finding John Turner guilty in the death of Tad Howard, 26, of Ellsworth, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds on a dirt road off Route 9.
Turner showed little emotion when the verdict was read at the end of the three-day trial. He faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
During the trial, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson told jurors that Howard's death was an execution sparked by drugs and money. Howard was a drug dealer, Benson said, and Turner was a client who had built a significant drug debt.
Turner's attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, maintained that a third person was with Turner and Howard the night of Howard's death, and that person might be responsible for the slaying.
After the verdict, the victim's father, Dale Howard, said the jury's decision vindicates his son.
"Things happen in life that you don't like. Bad things happen to good people," he said. "Despite my son's involvement in drugs, I know he's in heaven with the Lord."
Outside the courtroom, Benson said the jury's verdict came as no surprise.
"This was a case composed largely of circumstantial evidence, but that circumstantial evidence was fairly substantial," he said.
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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
