Former Maine woman to face charges Dec. 12

WISCASSET – A former Waldoboro woman who was acquitted last year of the fatal stabbing of her husband is once again in hot water with the law.

Amy Dugas, 39, who had moved to Tennessee, was returned to Maine to face probation violation charges that could land her in jail for up to a year. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12 in Lincoln County Superior Court, District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said.

Maine authorities requested Dugas’ extradition after learning that she had been charged with assaulting William Dimler, who was described as her boyfriend.

A Lincoln County jury had acquitted Dugas of the 2004 murder of her husband, Mark Dugas, after she claimed to have acted in self-defense. She was later found guilty of assaulting her husband and a sheriff’s deputy in an incident that took place a few months prior to the slaying.

Dugas was sentenced to 330 days in jail, but was soon placed on probation because she had already served 10 months awaiting trial on the murder charge. She later moved to Rockvale, Tenn., to be with her two children.

Rushlau said there was evidence that Dugas was drinking alcohol at the time of the assault on Dimler, which would have violated the terms of her probation.

Dugas’ Portland attorney, Howard F. O’Brien III, claimed that Rushlau was persecuting his client and said Dimler has sought to have the assault charge against Dugas dismissed.

“The district attorney has decided that despite the fact my client was not punished for Mark Dugas’ death, he still wants to punish her,” O’Brien said.

Rushlau said Dugas was using a different last name and it took his office several weeks to locate her and begin extradition proceedings.

Dugas testified at her murder trial that she stabbed her husband in self-defense as the two wrestled for control of a foot-long knife on the kitchen floor.

Helen Dugas of Rockland said her son was not violent and would back away from a fight.

“Nothing will ever make up for what she has done,” she said. “But I am glad she has been brought back to Maine. It’s just too bad that she is going to be put back on the street.”