Restaurant owner changes mind about fund-raiser for Dechaine

PORTLAND – A restaurant owner withdrew his pledge to share dinner receipts with Trial and Error, a group that supports convicted murderer Dennis Dechaine, after a protester came to a fund-raiser at the eatery.

Mac McCabe, chief executive officer of O’Naturals, said he did not realize how controversial hosting the fund-raiser sponsored by the group would be.

Instead of giving 10 percent of the evening’s proceeds to Trial and Error, McCabe said he would make a personal donation to the group and one to a scholarship fund in honor of Sarah Cherry, the 12-year-old girl who disappeared in 1988 that Dechaine was convicted of murdering.

McCabe said he is not one of Dechaine’s supporters and may rethink how he decides what groups can use his restaurant.

“I have absolutely no opinion on that and I don’t have an informed opinion on the case,” McCabe said. “I just believe in freedom of speech and democracy.”

The decision pleased Michael DeLong, 49, a salesman from Portland who stood outside the restaurant Monday telling customers they were unwittingly supporting Dechaine’s defense.

“It upset me how it’s being presented by these people. Calling it a ‘community night’ really gives it some legitimacy. People will be giving him money without even knowing about it,” DeLong said. “I think it’s pretty strange that they would be raising money for a convicted child killer.”

Dechaine was sentenced to life in prison in 1989. Over time, the inmate has garnered the support of some 2,000 members of Trial and Error, a Madawaska-based group that believes in his innocence. Interest in the case also has grown since a book was published in 2002 giving new life to claims of his innocence. Dechaine’s supporters claim that he was already in custody at the time of Sarah Cherry’s death, and couldn’t have killed her.

Recent tests of Sarah Cherry’s bloodstained fingernails have found male DNA that is not Dechaine’s. His lawyer has filed a motion asking the state to compare it to DNA belonging to police investigators who handled the nails.

Trial and Error’s support of Dechaine has had an impact on the Cherry family, said the Rev. Bob Dorr, the family’s pastor.

“They’ve gotten a little more aggressive,” Dorr said of Dechaine’s supporters. “The world is saying that Dennis is innocent. That really discounts the death of Sarah. The family is almost numb at this point, it’s been going on so long.”