Brother of two killers sentenced for attempted murder of boy, 16

BANGOR – An 18-year-old who has said he wants to join his two older brothers in prison could get his wish after being convicted Thursday of attempted murder.

Aaron Heath of Bangor was sentenced to 20 years in prison with all but 10 years suspended after pleading guilty in Penobscot County Superior Court to stabbing a 16-year-old boy in May at an Essex Street apartment building.

The wound, which was 7 inches deep, missed by 1 centimeter a major artery that would have killed the victim had it been punctured, the doctor who treated the boy testified Thursday.

Only luck prevented the youth from dying, Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Mike Roberts said Thursday.

“Mr. Heath did everything he could do to make this a homicide,” he said during the three-hour sentence hearing.

Heath also was indicted earlier this month on a charge of elevated aggravated assault, though the charge was dismissed Thursday as part of his plea agreement.

He faced up to 30 years in prison, and now either will join his siblings at the Maine State Prison in Warren or will be sent to the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. Heath, who has spent much of his life in foster care, has told police that he wants to follow in the footsteps of his brothers, both convicted killers.

Carl Wayne Heath, 24, of Fryeburg and Smokey D. Heath Jr., 29, of Fairfield each are serving 40-year sentences for killing a person with a hammer in separate incidents.

Heath agreed to be tried as an adult in the stabbing incident, which occurred when he was 17.

The victim, who has since been released from the hospital, lost a kidney and suffered a liver laceration as a result of the attack. Heath stabbed the victim in the abdomen as he shook the boy’s hand and previously had told others that he wanted “to [expletive] someone up” because it was Friday the 13th, Roberts said.

Heath, dressed in black, his feet shackled, said little during Thursday’s hearing, except to apologize to the victim, the victim’s family and the community.

“I know what I did was wrong,” Heath said, addressing Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm.

The victim’s mother was present Thursday but did not address the court and declined to comment after the hearing.

The judge ordered Heath to serve four years of probation with conditions that included psychological and substance abuse counseling, recognizing the severe physical, sexual and emotional abuse the teenager suffered as a child.

Hjelm also ordered $20,000 in restitution for the victim’s medical bills, which totaled more than $60,000.

Before Heath was taken into custody at age 5 by the state, he was abused at the hands of both his parents and siblings, caseworker Wendy Karnes, who handled Heath’s case for the Department of Health and Human Services, testified Thursday.

Heath was locked in the basement and forced to crawl inside dead animal carcasses, and was hit with sticks, belts and electrical cords, Karnes said. After being removed from his home, the boy endured 44 placements in hospitals and foster homes over the next 13 years, Karnes said.

Despite Heath’s history of abuse, his violent attack was unprovoked and premeditated, Hjelm said as he delivered the sentence. Much like Heath was exploited as a child, Heath in turn exploited the victim, the judge said.

“The effects of this incident are going to go beyond full repair,” Hjelm said, noting a letter from the victim’s sister stating that her brother had become a “totally different person” since the attack.

Though satisfied with the sentence, Roberts said after Thursday’s sentencing that chances are slim that Heath would be successful in life after his release,.

“Whether he’ll have a normal existence is probably beyond hope,” the prosecutor said.