Voters re-elect woman who killed husband

OGUNQUIT – The woman who shot her husband to death but was acquitted of murder has won re-election to the Board of Selectmen.

Jackie Bevins, 60, received 364 votes in Saturday’s municipal election to win a second two-year term. Only one other candidate received more votes.

Bevins was among six candidates seeking three positions on the Board of Selectmen in the annual election. Three of the candidates failed to win seats.

“This job has helped me really know who I am, that I am a good person. It also keeps me busy, so I don’t sit home and punish myself,” Bevins said recently.

Ten years ago, a jury cleared Bevins of murder charges in the death of Jack Bevins. She shot him 15 times as he was getting out of the tub in 1990.

It was one of the first murder cases in Maine where battered-wife syndrome was successfully used as a defense. Her defense argued that she acted in self-defense after years of abuse.