Experts describe death scene at Kenduskeag woman’s home

BANGOR – Details of the gruesome slaying of a 40-year-old Kenduskeag woman nearly two years ago were revealed Tuesday during the opening day of testimony in the murder trial of Franklin A. Higgins II.

Higgins, 38, is charged with raping and murdering Katherine Poor at her Route 15 apartment just outside Kenduskeag Village in February 1999. Higgins has been incarcerated at Penobscot County Jail since his arrest 10 days after the homicide.

At Penobscot County Superior Court jurors heard graphic testimony about Poor’s brutal death from investigators, forensic experts and a state medical examiner.

Today, Frank Warren of Kenduskeag, who had a relationship with Poor and was a close friend of the defendant, is expected to testify. A DNA expert is also expected to testify that cigarette butts found in Poor’s apartment contained Higgins’ DNA and that blood found on Higgins’ boots matched Poor’s DNA.

Higgins, his hair trimmed, wore a dark business suit in court as he sat with his two court-appointed attorneys, Peter Bos and Donald Brown, both of Bangor.

Poor’s mother, Alice Poor, testified that her daughter was 40 years old, with the emotional maturity of a 16-year-old girl. Although the woman was able to live on her own in a small efficiency apartment a half- mile from her parents’ home, Poor was slow and relied on her mother for her financial dealings.

Poor also had a strong need for attention and love, according to friends and family members who testified. As a result, she had sexual relationships with many men who often called on her at her apartment.

“She had the emotional maturity of a young girl, and many men took advantage of that,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese during her opening remarks to the jury.

The state alleges that one of those men was Higgins, who they claim went to Poor’s apartment on Feb. 27 and wound up “torturing,” raping and killing her.

The motive remains unclear and in dispute, Marchese said, but one theory is that trouble erupted because of a sexual dispute.

Poor’s body was found lying face up in the kitchen of her small apartment, according to testimony.

Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Frank Ferenc provided jurors with a detailed description of the extent of Poor’s injuries.

She had a 31/2-inch, gaping stab wound on each side of her neck. Those injuries lacerated her jugular vein and carotid artery. She also had a deep puncture wound to the middle of her neck, possibly made with an instrument such as a screwdriver, Ferenc testified. The weapon penetrated her voice box and continued into the back of her throat until it hit bone, he said.

“It would have taken significant force,” he testified.

The medical examiner then told jurors that a 12-inch-tall aerosol can was inserted into Poor’s vagina.

Since that produced much less bleeding than would be expected, Ferenc suggested that the insertion was done as Poor was on the brink of death.

“I would suggest that her blood pressure was very low at that time,” he said.

Higgins sat calmly through the testimony and jotted notes on paper at the defense table.

Bos indicated during opening remarks to the jurors that the defense team would point at alternative suspects, including Frank Warren. Bos said there also was a report that someone saw a man on Poor’s deck and a man on a bicycle in an orange hat near Poor’s apartment.

Though the prosecution is armed with a four-hour taped police interview with Higgins who subsequently confessed to the murder, Bos suggested that Higgins may have just told police what they wanted to hear in order to end the interrogation.

“Keep an open mind,” Bos urged jurors. “Sometimes the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle just don’t fit. Separate your emotions … Sometimes people say things that they don’t mean.”