Brooks man denied bail in 1983 slaying

BANGOR – A Penobscot County Superior Court justice on Friday denied bail for a Brooks man charged in connection with the 18-year-old slaying of a U.S. Navy officer.

Boyd Smith, 41, will be held at Waldo County Jail in Belfast pending his trial, at which he will face a murder charge for the 1983 slaying of Mervin “Sonny” Grotton of Belfast.

Smith had pleaded innocent in Knox County Superior Court last Friday after his arrest. Just the day before, the Waldo County grand jury secretly indicted him on the murder charge.

Also charged with the murder last week was Norma Small, 61, of Gas, Kan. Prosecutors believe that Small hired a third man, Joel Fuller, 45, to kill Grotton, her husband. Police believe Smith conspired with Small in the murder by introducing her to Fuller. Smith was dating the couple’s daughter at the time, police said.

Small has waived opposition to extradition and is expected to return to Maine in the coming weeks.

Fuller is serving life sentences for two other murders in Waldo County in the mid-1980s. In March, he was charged with the murder of Grotton, who was gunned down outside his Wight Street home in December 1983.

At Friday’s Harnish hearing, Justice Andrew Mead found that state prosecutors presented clear and convincing evidence that Smith posed a substantial risk of flight as well as a substantial risk that he could harm others should he be freed pending trial.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson represented the state at the Harnish hearing, held to determine if someone accused of a capital crime should be held without bail.

Shortly after the morning court appearance, Smith, clad in orange prison garb, was whisked from the Bangor courthouse and back to Waldo County Jail.

While no trial date has been set, Smith’s Rockland attorney, Rick Morse, said his client’s next court appearance may be in early June, when he may seek to move the trial from Waldo County.

Morse said that many in the midcoast community, several of whom attended Friday’s hearing, have supported his client since his unexpected arrest. On Friday, Morse characterized Smith as a hard worker with many longtime friends in the community.