September 21, 2024
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Man on trial in deaths of wife, mother in ’04

PORTLAND – Jury selection began Monday in the murder trial of a Pittston man charged in the shooting deaths of his estranged wife and his mother in Boothbay Harbor two summers ago.

Jon Dilley, 52, is charged with killing Chevelle Calloway-Dilley and his mother, Sarah Murray, in front of his two young children on Aug. 21, 2004.

The trial in Cumberland County Superior Court is expected to last all week, said Steven Peterson, Dilley’s attorney. The case was moved from Lincoln County because of intense media coverage.

Prosecutors say Dilley, who had recently separated from his wife, showed up at his mother’s summer home on the morning of the shooting. An argument ensued and the women and children ran into the house.

When police arrived, they found Calloway-Dilley’s body inside the house and Murray’s body in the front yard. The children, who were 6 and 9 at the time, were not hurt.

At a court hearing after the shooting, a tow truck driver who had called the residence that morning said he asked for Calloway-Dilley. But there was only silence followed by screams from the daughter.

“‘Daddy shot Mommy. Daddy shot Grammy,”‘ the driver testified hearing on the phone.

Justice Donald H. Marden, who is assigned to the case, delayed the original trial, which was scheduled to take place in January. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese is heading the prosecution.

Peterson, who was appointed as Dilley’s attorney in December, said he has met several times with his client and conferred with him last week at the Lincoln County Jail, where he has been held without bail since the shootings.

Dilley’s brother and his wife, who live in San Jose, Calif., have been appointed guardians of the two children.


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