State says slain S. Berwick woman was shot

PORTLAND – Three months after Amy St. Laurent’s body was found buried in Scarborough, authorities said she died after being shot in the head.

Last week, the State Medical Examiner’s Office released the cause of death of the 25-year-old South Berwick woman who disappeared in October after an evening in Portland’s Old Port.

Other details about the killing and the ordeal St. Laurent endured remain a closely held secret.

“The release today of the medical examiner’s finding,” Chitwood said, “does not in any way, shape or form describe the brutal, violent death of Amy St. Laurent. It’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

“The torture and agony and pain she must have gone through is very, very tragic,” Chitwood said. “The tragedy will unfold at the time of trial.”

Jeffrey Gorman has been charged with killing St. Laurent after meeting her at an Old Port bar. Investigators believe he killed her and buried her body a short distance from his mother’s home in Scarborough.

Gorman, who has pleaded innocent to murder, has been held at Cumberland County Jail awaiting trial.

Gorman’s lawyer, Clifford Strike, said he had not seen the autopsy reports or received information from the Medical Examiner’s Office so he was not prepared to comment about the cause-of-death finding.