PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's note: The video attached to this story was published Aug. 25, 2021.
A Hartland man who pleaded guilty to 10 counts of aggravated attempted murder and related charges in connection with the December 2019 shooting of a Waterville police officer has been sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison followed by 20 years of probation.
Richard Murray-Burns was sentenced in Somerset Superior Court in Skowhegan. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 60 years, according to Somerset County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney.
Several law enforcement officers spoke at the sentencing, including the officer who was shot twice.
"I would note the heroism of the law enforcement officers on both the day of the shooting, Dec. 22, 2019, and today in their statements in court," Maloney said. "The officers vividly described following the defendant while he shot at them over 60 times."
Murray-Burns was indicted by a grand jury in March 2020 on 19 separate counts, including 13 counts of felony aggravated attempted murder and two counts of felony aggravated assault.
On Dec. 22, 2019, Waterville Police Officer Timothy Hinton attempted to stop a car on Route 201 in Waterville regarding a shoplifting complaint from Walmart earlier that afternoon, according to a previously published NEWS CENTER Maine article.
Police said Murray-Burns then fired at Hinton with an "assault-style weapon" while Hinton was sitting in his cruiser and then fled. Hinton, who was injured, and officers from other agencies chased the car along routes 201 and 23 in Kennebec and Somerset counties before ending on Route 2 in Canaan. In addition to Hinton, Murray-Burns shot at other officers, who returned fire, wounding Murray-Burns. He was treated at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Two state police detectives arrested him upon release.
In addition to pleading guilty to 10 counts of aggravated attempted murder, Murray-Burns also entered guilty pleas for one count of robbery, one count of eluding police, and one count of theft, Maloney said in an email.