Jurors continue deliberations in stabbing

BANGOR – Juror deliberations in the trial of the Greenbush man accused of stabbing two women in their Milford residence 14 months ago are expected to resume today in Penobscot County Superior Court.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about an hour and 20 minutes late Wednesday afternoon before being dismissed for the day.

Closing arguments from the prosecutor and defense attorney along with the judge’s instructions took up most of the afternoon, but earlier in the day the defendant told a very different story than the victims had.

Larry Leighton, 62, is charged with stabbing Violet DeCarlos, 32, of Milford and Susan Swoboda, 42, of Bangor with a 3-inch pocketknife on Nov. 18, 2006. He said that he went that afternoon to the house on Greenfield Road, about three miles from his house, to illegally purchase a prescription drug.

Leighton, who took the stand in his own defense Wednesday morning testified that he did not begin “poking” the women with a knife until after they hit him over the head. He also said that one of the reasons he went to the house was to see if the women had been involved in the robbery he’d been the victim of two days earlier.

DeCarlos told the jury on Tuesday that Leighton pushed his way into the home she then shared with Swoboda and began stabbing her without provocation. Swoboda testified the same day that she was in the kitchen washing dishes when Leighton arrived. She said she hit Leighton over the head with a rolling pin three times after he stabbed her, too. Leighton fell onto and broke a glass coffee table before he stumbled out of the residence and headed toward his home several miles away.

Leighton testified Wednesday that he rode his bicycle to the couple’s home about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 18, 2006, expecting to buy Ritalin, a prescription drug used to treat attention deficit disorder, from DeCarlos.

He said he knocked on the door twice and DeCarlos opened the door and he stepped inside.

“She said, ‘You’re not wanted here,'” he said. “I started to turn to leave and got hit on the top of my head.”

Leighton said that each of the women hit him once but he did not know with what. He also said that he does not remember taking a pocketknife out of his jacket pocket but does recall making a “poking” motion at both women.

The knife used in the stabbing has not been found but a sheath that might fit a similar kind of knife was found in Leighton’s jacket pocket, investigators testified earlier this week.

The defendant was stopped by police a short distance from DeCarlos’ home about 1 p.m. and taken into custody. He suffered a concussion and required stitches for a cut on his head.

Leighton also testified that he and the women had spent the evening of Nov. 16, 2006, drinking at DeCarlo’s home. He said that because he does not have a driver’s license he had hitchhiked to Old Town and taken the bus to Bangor to pawn a ring and pay a bill.

On his way back, he stopped at a store to buy “some liquid,” including a half-gallon each of vodka, orange juice and cranberry-raspberry juice, that he carried in his backpack, he testified. As he was walking past DeCarlos’ house, she invited him in and he spent several hours drinking with the women. The defendant also said that DeCarlos made several phone calls while he was there but he did not know to whom.

Leighton testified that he left that night without incident as it began to get dark, but DeCarlos and Swoboda testified that they forced him to leave after he punched DeCarlos in the stomach. The defendant denied punching the woman or making disparaging remarks about their relationship.

As he was walking home, Leighton said that an old white Lincoln pulled up behind him and two people that he could not identify pushed him down in the ditch, took his backpack and emptied his pockets of $350 in cash.

Police on routine patrol found a very intoxicated Leighton in the ditch about 10:30 p.m. and took him home. The next day he was interviewed about the incident by a Penobscot County sheriff’s deputy, who also talked with DeCarlos.

Leighton said that he had another reason for visiting the women the day of the stabbing – he wanted to see their reactions to his story about the robbery.

“I knew that I could tell by looking at somebody if they knew something about it,” he said.

No one has been charged in the alleged robbery.

Leighton is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and aggravated criminal trespassing. If convicted, Leighton faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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