Murder defendant’s son tells of confrontation with victim

BELFAST – The son of murder defendant Jerome Reynolds Jr. testified Wednesday that he once had to carry the victim in the case, Janet Bacon, out of his home when she refused to leave.

Wednesday was the third day of the murder trial in Waldo County Superior Court of Reynolds, 54, who is charged with killing Bacon, 60, on Sept. 29, 2004. Reynolds admitted to shooting Bacon with a 12 gauge shotgun in his Brooks home, but is claiming through his attorney that the woman forced her way into the house and posed a threat to him and his father.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson concluded the prosecution’s portion of the trial Wednesday morning with the state’s deputy medical examiner and a state police detective testifying about the manner in which Bacon died, and where she was found in the house.

The trial will resume today, and may conclude this afternoon or Friday.

In his testimony, Reynolds III recounted an incident in December 2003 in which Bacon, who was romantically involved with the defendant’s father, burst into Reynolds III’s Liberty home.

Earlier in the day, Reynolds III picked up his grandfather at the hospital where he was treated for a hand injury and transported him to the Liberty home so he and his wife could care for him. The elder Reynolds was under the influence of painkillers, the grandson said, and soon fell asleep in a recliner.

Reynolds III went outside to cut wood, he said, and was summoned by his wife into the house where he found Bacon trying to get his grandfather to leave with her.

“I had to go in and remove her from him because she wouldn’t leave,” he said. Bacon was “slapping him in the face, and pulling on his hand to get him out of there.”

In response to questions from defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein, Reynolds III said, “One time I grabbed her and pushed her toward the door,” and told her, ” ‘Now you’re trespassing.’ I had to pick her up and lug her. She grabbed onto the door frame on the way out.”

Reynolds III also testified that Bacon kneed him in the groin twice during the struggle to remove her from the house.

Tammy Reynolds, the grandson’s wife, testified that she was inside the house when Bacon arrived.

“Janet had came into the house and knocked me over” opening the door, and “scared the kids. I had to call the cops.”

To questions posed by Silverstein, both Reynolds III and his wife testified that the officer who responded told them they had a right to protect their house.

“I asked the policeman if I could protect my home,” Reynolds III testified. “The officer told me absolutely I could protect my home.”

Both Reynolds III and his wife testified they told Reynolds II about the incident when he returned from an out-of-state trip, and that the police officer advised them of the right to protect their home.

During cross-examination by Benson, Reynolds III admitted he did not relate to his father that Bacon did not have a weapon with her. “Just her knee,” he said before being dismissed from the witness stand.

The defense also presented Elizabeth Vanidestine of Jackson as a witness, who testified Bacon had come into the Varney Building in Brooks earlier on the day of the shooting demanding the elder Reynolds leave, where he had been playing cards with Vanidestine and other women in a seniors club.

“She was stomping across the floor. She was upset,” Vanidestine testified.

In the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, Benson introduced a photograph of Bacon lying in the doorway of the defendant’s house. Maine State Police Detective Scott Bryant testified that he shot digital photos of the crime scene the night of the shooting, including where Bacon fell.

“Her left arm was partially blocking the doorway. You wouldn’t be able to close the door without moving her arm,” Bryant said.

The detective also testified that Bacon was in an 8-foot-by-8-foot entryway, and that she was wearing only a nightgown and slippers with no undergarments.

Dr. Michael Ferenc, the state’s deputy chief medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Bacon, testified she was 5-feet, 3-inches tall and weighed 206 pounds. In addition to describing the fatal wounds to her face and neck in graphic detail, Ferenc testified he found a filler material embedded in her skin associated with shotgun shells.

The filler indicated Bacon was shot from a “close-type range,” Ferenc said, “less than a foot or so, one or two feet from the skin surface.”