PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Supreme Court is upholding the murder conviction in the case of 16-year-old Joyce McLain who was killed in 1980.
Phillip Scott Fournier was convicted of McLain's murder 36 years after it happened and was sentenced to 45 years in prison in April 2018. McLain was a student at Schenk High School back in 1980 and was on a run in East Millinocket when she was murdered.
Fournier appealed his conviction in December. His defense attorney had argued that the judge, Superior Court Justice Ann Murray, made mistakes by excluding evidence of a suspect and that Murray did not allow testimony from certain detectives and allowed into evidence a confession Fournier had made to his pastor.
On Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, the Maine Supreme Court affirmed the judgment that Justice Murray had handed down, saying that the court did not abuse its discretion and did not err in finding Fournier waived his religious privilege with his confession.