Bangor man gets 50-year sentence in murder over drug money

ELLSWORTH – The sentence for convicted murderer John J. Turner came down Tuesday like a heavy mallet: 50 years.

For the family of Tad Howard, the victim of Turner’s crime, it was the final chapter in a sad story.

“We’re glad that the process has come to an end,” Howard’s father, Dale Howard, said on the steps of the Hancock County Superior Courthouse, minutes after Justice Kevin Cuddy announced the sentence.

“We had hoped for longer, but when someone asked before what I thought an appropriate sentence would be, I said ‘as long as I’m not alive when he gets out.'”

A Hancock County jury found Turner, 35, of Bangor guilty of murder in May, culminating a three-day trial that revealed Turner and Howard were drug-dealing associates. Turner, who initially planned to rob Howard of drug proceeds on the night of July 8, 2007, drove his former friend to a secluded area off Route 9 in the Hancock County town of Amherst. There, Turner fired three shots from a shotgun at his victim, then finished him off with a final shot to the head. The young man’s body was found the next day.

Turner showed little emotion during the hour-long sentence hearing Tuesday afternoon, spending most of it sitting with his hands folded in front of him on the table and staring straight ahead. He did not address the court. Afterward, he returned to the nearby Hancock County Jail but soon will begin serving his lengthy term at a state prison facility.

“The state had asked for 55 years and he got 50, so I think it’s a perfectly appropriate sentence,” Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson said outside the courthouse in Ellsworth.

Benson outlined his sentencing recommendation in a speech that rehashed what he called the “execution-style killing” of Howard, a 27-year-old man who grew up in Ellsworth.

“What do you do with John Turner?” Benson began before asking Justice Cuddy to approve a sentence that “is long enough that it sends a deterrent message not only to Mr. Turner but to the public at large.”

Turner’s attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker, did not submit a formal sentencing memorandum, but urged the judge to consider a practical sentence of 25 to 35 years.

“The facts of this case are egregious, I admit that, but I’m focusing on practicality. This is a numbers game,” Toothaker said.

Both of Howard’s parents sat in the courtroom, along with his sister and twin brother. Dale Howard, the only member of the public to speak during the sentencing hearing, said he thought his son’s killer should spend the rest of his life in prison.

“The Bible said, ‘Children are a gift from God,'” he began, then told a story of how no matter where his son’s life adventures took him, he always returned home with a hug and kiss for his father. “I’ll never get that from my son again.”

Justice Cuddy, who presided over his first murder case since being appointed to the bench, explained before sentencing that he was required to address a number of factors, including the crime’s impact.

For Tad Howard, he said, the impact was final.

“He’s dead,” the justice said bluntly. “He’s not coming back.”

Cuddy also agreed with Benson’s assessment of aggravating factors, including manner of the killing, the fact that it was done over money, and the overwhelming impact on the victim’s family and friends, before settling on 50 years.

Dale Howard agreed that the sentence was substantial but said the reason he asked for such a stiff sentence was that the state of Maine seems to be seeing more and more senseless murders.

“Maybe the court needs to start sending a stronger message,” he said.

Life sentences in Maine are rare, and generally can be handed down only under certain circumstances, such as murder for hire, murder of multiple people or murder accompanied by abuse or torture.

The last life sentence in Maine was two months ago. Justice Joseph Jabar in Penobsoct County Superior Court ordered Peter Tuller, 35, to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the hog-tie murder of Michael Demmons, 47, in June 2006. Christian Nielson, who murdered and dismembered four people during a rampage on Labor Day weekend 2006, pleaded guilty and was given a life sentence last October.

In a case similar to Turner’s, a South Portland man was sentenced in April to 45 years in prison for killing a Massachusetts man whose body was found off the Maine Turnpike two years ago. Huy “Tony” Van Nguyen was convicted last June in the fatal shooting of Dung Quoc Ngo, which a state prosecutor in that case called a premeditated execution meant to avenge a drug rip-off.

Dale Howard acknowledged that his son had gotten into some trouble in the last few years but said none of that justified his brutal death.

“He was a good kid,” Howard said in a measured voice while addressing the court. “He was not a career criminal or a career drug dealer. In the last few years, he got mixed up in some questionable behavior, but that wasn’t who Tad was.”

The father paused for a moment, then added, “He just made some poor choices that ended up costing him his life.”

erussell@bangordailynews.net

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