Editor’s Note: A Franklin County jury has just returned a guilty verdict in the murder trial of Thomas Mitchell, Jr. of South Portland.
FARMINGTON – With all of the evidence in and closing arguments made, the fate of a 52-year-old South Portland man now lies in the hands of 12 residents of Franklin County.
Thomas Mitchell, Jr. stands accused of murdering Judith Flagg, 23, in her residence on Watson Hill Road in Fayette. The state contends that on the morning of Jan. 6, 1983, Mitchell entered the Flaggs residence and orally raped and then stabbed her to death in the baby’s room. Her body was found in the nearby kitchen by her husband, Theodore Flagg. The phone was in her hand and their 13-month-old son Chad was curled up on top of her.
The defense has maintained that Mitchell was a victim of coincidence and was not in Fayette on the day of Judith Flagg’s death.
Deputy Attorney General William Stokes’ closing argument consisted chiefly of a list of the state’s evidence against Mitchell; a DNA match between material found under Judith Flagg’s fingernails and Mitchell, shoe impressions taken from the scene which the state says match Mitchell’s shoes, witnesses who testified they saw a vehicle matching Mitchell’s Thunderbird’s description leaving Portland and again on the Watson Hill Road.
“The evidence is going to prove that this man,” Stokes said, pointing to the defense table, “committed a crime so horrible, that it must be every woman’s nightmare… that it must be every husband’s nightmare.”
Stokes told the jury that the defense’s contention that Mitchell was cut by a soda bottle and bled in the baby’s room in 1979, when the property was owned by his father, was an unlikely source for the DNA found on Judith Flagg’s body.
“All the stars in the universe were aligned against Thomas Mitchell that morning,” Stokes said sarcastically, going on to say that Mitchell had the “unmitigated audacity” to expect the jury to believe his story.
Defense attorney James Strong pointed to holes the defense saw in the state’s case, saying the charge came down to two words, “footprints and fingernails.” He noted that the Mitchell’s shoes had a trademark “street car” on the soles, and that the impressions taken from the scene did not. He discussed three hairs found on Judith Flagg’s body, which a specialist in the 1980s said could not have originated from Mitchell. He noted that a witness who said she saw Mitchell’s car on the Watson Hill Road later couldn’t pick him or his vehicle out of a lineup.
“The long search for the truth has been subordinated by the need to solve this cold case,” he told the jury.
Stokes, on the state’s rebuttal, asked the jury to look at the evidence and testimony. He noted that the state had waited more than 20 years prior to bringing charges in the case of Judith Flagg, and hardly had been under pressure to solve the case immediately.
Justice Joseph Jabar then excused the four alternate jurors and gave some last minute instructions. Deliberations will continue until a verdict is reached.
