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Judge thought Lewiston murder suspect would 'age out' of violent behavior

The suspect in a fatal stabbing had a 40-year history of assaulting women. How was he walking the streets a free man?

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) - The man accused of murdering a 48-year-old Lewiston woman as her children watched had a decades-long history of assaulting women.

In one case, a judge gave him a shorter sentence thinking he would be too old to commit the violent crimes.

Albert Flick, now 76-years-old, was convicted of murdering his wife in 1979. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but served 20 because of good behavior.

When he got out of prison for that murder sentence, Albert Flick did not turn his life around. He continued to commit crimes, including criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, tampering with the witness, violating condition of release, and - in 2010 - assault.

Albert Flick pleaded guilty in 2010 to assaulting a woman with - again - a knife. He admitted to stabbing her multiple times with the handle end of the knife.

Prosecutors asked a judge to give Flick a longer sentence. His probation officer testified, asking for an extended sentence, calling him an "extremely violent individual."

Judge Robert Crowley denied the request for a longer sentence, telling the court he believed Albert Flick would soon be too old to commit violent crimes.

"He will be seventy-two or seventy-three when released," Judge Crowley said at a sentencing hearing in 2010. "At some point Mr. Flick is going to age out of his capacity to engage in this conduct and incarcerating him beyond the time that he ages out doesn't seem to me to make good sense from a criminological or fiscal perspective."

This story will be updated.

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