Beer dispute may have fueled slaying Accused spent most of life in jail

BANGOR – A transient who has spent most of his adult life behind bars appeared unsteady on his feet when he made his first appearance Tuesday in Penobscot County Superior Court on a manslaughter charge.

Stephen James, 56, is charged with causing the death of another homeless man, Clyde Worster, 63, Sunday afternoon.

Worster, according to court documents, died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. He also had a broken neck.

James allegedly struck Worster on the head and face with a large log in a dispute over beer.

If convicted, James faces up to 30 years in prison.

James, who recently moved to the Bangor area, was arrested Monday by Bangor police. He is expected to be held at Penobscot County Jail pending the resolution of his case because of his inability to make bail.

Both men were staying in a wooded area known locally as “The Pines” on the former Dow Air Force Base near the campus of University College at Bangor.

Police were called there about 3 p.m. Sunday by custodians at Katahdin Hall on Texas Avenue who had been informed by a homeless man that someone had been beaten to death in the woods. Bangor police, according to court documents, found a “deceased male lying on his back with blood covering his face.”

In initial interviews Sunday with detectives, James denied knowing anything about Worster’s death, according to court documents. He later told them that he had heard Worster yell for help, then saw three black males running from Worster’s campsite.

During a subsequent interview Monday, James allegedly admitted to police that he remembered assaulting Worster but then blacked out. He later admitted that Worster might have been seated when he hit him, according to court documents.

Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy set bail Tuesday at $50,000 cash or $200,000 surety.

Bangor attorney David Walker, who was appointed to represent James, told the judge that his client would not be able to make such a high bail.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson, who is prosecuting the case, told Murphy that James’ extensive criminal record, which includes burglary, theft and aggravated assault, warranted the high bail.

Benson declined to comment on the case. It is the policy of the Attorney General’s Office not to comment on pending cases.

“At this point, the whole story has not been told,” defense attorney Walker said Tuesday after the brief hearing. “Mr. James is entitled to the presumption of innocence. People should reserve their opinions.”

James’ criminal history dates back to 1971 when he was convicted at age 19 of breaking, entering and larceny, a crime now called burglary. He spent most of the next decade in Maine correctional facilities on similar charges.

Throughout the 1980s, he was in and out of county jails and state prisons on robbery, burglary and misdemeanor charges. James was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1991 for aggravated assault and a series of robberies. Seven years later, most likely having been released early for earning good time, he was sentenced to five years in prison on a new aggravated assault charge. Since 2002, he has been in and out of county jails and state prison on a rash of forgery and theft charges.

Through the years, James has been convicted of crimes in six Maine counties – York, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Knox, Androscoggin and Lincoln. Details of his crimes were not available Tuesday.

His last physical address was listed in Biddeford in 2002, according to his criminal history record maintained by the Maine State Bureau of identification.

James is expected to be indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury in May or June.

A trial is not expected to be scheduled before next year.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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