`Cave’ a chilling tale> Former reporter examines Maine murder

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AMY CAVE, by Pat Flagg, Down East Books, 260 pages, hardcover, $22.95.

One of the reasons people move to Maine is because it is one of the safest places to live in the United States. There are very few murders committed here. However, one of the most bizarre cases in recent history involved the strangulation murder of Amelia Cave of North Sullivan by a tranvestite, would-be transsexual, named Samantha Glenner of Hancock. Both the murderer and the victim had moved to Maine “from away.”

Pat Flagg, a reporter for The Ellsworth American at the time, does not sensationalize this sensational story; and thus the tale is made even more chilling and disturbing. “The Disappearance of Amy Cave” is a fascinating page-turner; and in the Ellsworth area, it’s becoming a best-seller.

The book is divided into three parts and an epilogue. In the first section, Flagg simply lays out the story like the good reporter she is; and then in the second and third sections, she switches to first person, putting herself into the story and telling of her own personal reactions to the case, the trial that ensued, and the aftermath. She does this because the victim, Amy Cave, a retired, middle-aged, unmarried woman from Long Island, was Pat Flagg’s friend and neighbor. Flagg says she was compelled to write this book.

Of course, the story is tabloid fodder — and was front-page news at the time in 1984-85, garnering national attention — because of the nature of the killer. Glen Robert Askeborn, who renamed himself Samantha Glenner, was a big tall man who went around the Hancock-Ellsworth area dressed as a well-endowed woman with heavy makeup and talking in a whispery Marilyn Monroe voice. She-he was the talk of the town long before the murder occurred.

As Steve Coffin, retired Ellsworth English teacher, is quoted as saying, “She was some sight, I’ll tell you. … Here I am in Merchant’s Garage [in Hancock], waiting to pay Rick for some small job — replacing a muffler, maybe. No, an oil change, I think it was. And into this atmosphere of grease and grime, floats this giant flower. This Amazon … she had on a long, flouncy dress covered with flowers. Peonies, maybe. Big red or pink peonies. With puffy shoulder deals cinched tight on her upper arms. And that tremendous bustline. I thought, what a set of boobs on this gal. …”

And so with all the talk and jokes going around, it was a great shock to Coffin, as well as many other local folk, to find out that this huge, incredible-looking woman was also a man and a cold-blooded murderer.

And with a record, as Flagg reports. Before coming to Maine to live with his-her parents, the late Wes and Glenn Askeborn of North Hancock, Samantha had committed at least two armed robberies in New York, had shoved a baby’s face into a pan of boiling water, and may have killed another person. Askeborn had also been married three times. One of his wives from Connecticut was interviewd by Flagg.

So why did Askeborn/Glenner kill Amy Cave? For money for a sex-change operation (shades of Al Pacino’s 1975 film “Dog Day Afternoon). Amy had already loaned Samantha money from when they first became friends; but this time he wanted a lot more, $2,700 to be exact. The forging of one of Amy’s checks proved to be Askeborn’s undoing, thanks to the sharp-eyed tellers at both the Bangor Savings Bank and KeyBank’s Ellsworth branches.

What’s most delightful about this book are the character sketches and minibiographies of the major players in this case. Because she was a lifelong summer resident of Burying Island off Hancock in Taunton Bay and because she has lived here year-round since the early 1970s, Pat Flagg knows her local area very well and she brings it alive in colorful detail.

Since I’m from Hancock, I know many of the people involved too: former Hancock town clerk Karen Dickson (who knew Samantha was a man long before the men did), Hancock County Deputy Sheriff Richard Dickson (who found the body), Maine State Police detective Ralph Pinkham, Hancock County Sheriff Bill Clark, Hancock resident Hal Church, and others.

The only complaint I have with this otherwise fine book is the lack of photographs and maps. One does want to see what Amy Cave and Samantha looked like, especially the latter, before and after.

In her epilogue, which is titled “Early Spring 1999,” Pat Flagg ruminates on the murder which changed her life and dramatically altered the way she regards her own beloved home area of the Maine coast. She remembers that after her first Maine winter, Amy Cave had changed and become depressed.

“Summer vacations on the coast, when the weather is on its best behavior, are seductive. At one time or another, most Burying Islanders have toyed with the idea of moving to Maine to live year-round , a fantasy I carried out years ago,” Flagg recalls. “I thought back to the first winter, when I had a romance with the Maine coast, and mused about how quickly the winters after that became just something to endure. I could understand why Amy, living alone, far from home for the first time, had become depressed.”

However, “The Disappearance of Amy Cave” is not so much depressing as it is tragic, sad, and haunting, with some very human comic-relief scenes. Because it’s so thoughtful, good, and true, Pat Flagg’s book transcends the usual “true crime” tale and helps us to understand the how if not the why of such a bizarre mystery.

Pat Flagg will read from and sign copies of her book at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22 at BookStacks in Bucksport and at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Borders, Books, Music & Cafe in Bangor.