Friendship man gets 40 years for murder

ROCKLAND – Faith has given Allison Small’s family the strength to forgive Douglas Dyer for shooting to death the 30-year-old woman on a cold January day as her husband watched, a family member told a judge Thursday.

But forgiveness did not sway the family from wanting Dyer put behind bars for a very long time.

Dyer, 33, of Friendship, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the Jan. 28, 2005, murder of Small, the Vinalhaven woman with whom he was having an affair. Justice S. Kirk Studstrup sentenced Dyer to 20 years – all suspended – and six years probation for attempting to murder Small’s husband, Brandon Small, also 33, outside the couple’s business in Rockland.

“He strikes without thinking and assumes no responsibility for his actions or deeds,” Fred Small, the victim’s father-in-law, told the court Thursday. “Should society take a chance and have him walking free? I say no. Please incarcerate him for a long time. He has worked hard to earn this sentence.”

Before the shooting, Allison Small and Dyer had been having an affair for a couple of years. Dyer worked as a truck driver and warehouse worker at Vinalhaven Transportation on New County Road, which was owned by the Smalls. The company ships food and supplies to and from the island.

The elder Small said he and his family in no way “condone or approve of the situation that led up to that tragic day.” Allison went to meet Dyer that day to “make things right,” he said.

Dyer showed no emotion throughout the two-hour sentencing. His stern expression never changed. He did not address the court.

Instead, his attorney, Steven Peterson of Rockport, read a five-page neatly hand-printed letter Dyer wrote. It was dated Wednesday.

“January 28th 2005 will undoubtedly be a day we all will sadly remember and never forget,” Dyer’s letter began. His letter stated it was written for many reasons, he said.

“The most prominent reason is shame,” he wrote. “I am ashamed of myself for the pain, the sorrow, the grief and embarrassment I have caused not only to my family, but to all family members and friends involved on both sides. I am too ashamed to stand here today in this courtroom and face each of you as if there was something I could do or say to ease everyone’s pain – I wish there was some kind of magic spell that could make this all go away.”

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson asked for a 60-year sentence. Peterson argued for 30 years.

“This is not a case of torture,” Peterson said, arguing for a lighter sentence.

“There is overwhelming evidence of premeditation,” Benson said, noting Dyer went to the meeting place with a loaded rifle. “It was a brute execution.”

When Dyer chased Allison Small inside the building and shot her once, “he could have called 911,” Benson said. “We know she was running for her life. Instead, he finished off Ms. Small brutally.”

Small ran outdoors and Dyer shot her twice in the back and fired a round at her husband.

“There aren’t any mitigating factors,” Benson told the judge.

Before sentencing Dyer, Justice Studstrup referred to his letter as “very compelling.”

“I don’t doubt the sincerity of that remorse,” he said, but the “aggravating factors have a small edge.”

“It’s just,” Fred Small said after the sentencing. “I don’t hold any animosity.”

Allison’s parents, Jerome and Judy Booth of Ellsworth, said they forgave Dyer.

“If you don’t forgive people, you yourself can’t be forgiven,” Jerome Booth said. “We’re all brothers and sisters. He’s going to pay for it. Who am I to judge? We all make bad decisions.

“We’re going to put flowers on Allison’s grave and go home,” he said.