Court document reveals details in Amherst slaying

ELLSWORTH – Phone numbers written on a piece of paper found on Tad Howard’s dead body apparently linked him to the man charged with his murder.

That was one of a handful of details revealed by paperwork filed this week in Hancock County Superior Court.

According to a court document released Wednesday, John J. Turner, 34, of Bangor told police he was with Howard the night before Howard was found dead.

The accused killer said that on July 8 the two men were driving together in Turner’s car one minute. In the next, Turner said he was alone.

The man claimed he “blacked out” during a period of time with Howard that night. According to the document, Turner said that when he emerged from the blackout he was alone in his car in Brewer.

Howard’s body was found the next day in a ditch near a dirt road off Route 9 in the northwestern Hancock County town of Amherst, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Police immediately called the 27-year-old Ellsworth man’s death suspicious and later labeled it a homicide but have offered few details in the last two weeks.

Even when police arrested Turner late last week and charged him with murder, they confirmed only that the two men did know each other.

But the court document filed this week may finally provide some insight into how Turner emerged as a main suspect in Howard’s murder.

The state Attorney General’s Office had requested that Turner’s cell phone records be turned over for analysis, a request that was granted Monday by Superior Court Justice Kevin Cuddy.

According to that document, Maine State Police detectives found Howard’s cell phone and a piece of paper with phone numbers at the crime scene.

One of those pieces of paper had the name “JJ” with two numbers listed. The first was a cell phone number later traced to Turner. The second number was a landline in Bangor that belonged to Turner’s mother, Sandy Newman.

Police interviewed Newman the day after Howard’s body was found, according to the court document. The woman told detectives that her son had voluntarily checked himself into Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

At some point during the week of July 9-13, Turner was transferred to Acadia Hospital in Bangor, a mental health and substance abuse facility.

Police interviewed Turner at Acadia on July 12, at which point they learned that the two men had been together the night Howard died.

It wasn’t until July 20, however, that detectives were granted a warrant to arrest Turner.

The Bangor man made his initial court appearance on Monday in Hancock County Superior Court, where he was formally charged with murder.

Both Howard’s family and Turner’s mother were present for the brief hearing but declined to speak with reporters.

Another court appearance is scheduled for 1 p.m. today to determine whether Turner will be allowed the chance to make bail.

Andrew Benson, a prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Office, said it’s likely that Turner’s entire file will be unsealed then and the gaps in the investigation will be filled.

Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth, Turner’s court-appointed attorney, said Monday that his client has been on suicide watch at Hancock County Jail since last Friday.