Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

'GUILTY, YOUR HONOR'

BY BETTY ADAMS Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- Leo R. Hylton, 19, will spend up to 50 years behind bars for maiming a father and daughter with a machete in a home invasion a year ago.

PLEA: Defense attorney Robert Ruffner, left, looks at his client Leo R. Hylton during a hearing on Friday in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta. During the hearing, Hylton pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated attempted murder and one count each of robbery and burglary in connection with the pre-dawn attack May 27, 2008, at the home of former legislator William Guerrette.

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Hylton pleaded guilty Friday in Kennebec County Superior Court to three counts of attempted murder, and one each of robbery and burglary, in a pre-dawn attack that left William Guerrette Jr. and his daughter Nicole, then 10, hospitalized for weeks. The attack sent other family members fleeing from the house or hiding in locked rooms.

Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley outlined the details of the attack for Justice Nancy Mills to support the prosecution's recommended sentence of 90 years in prison with all but 50 years suspended and 15 years' probation.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, the prosecution dropped charges of aggravated attempted murder, which carry maximum sentences of life in prison.

The Guerrettes were not at Friday's hearing, but William Guerrette said he was aware of the proceeding and the sentence recommendation.

"I'm really not ready to make a comment now," Guerrette said Friday by telephone. "I am feeling better all the time, and my daughter is improving also."

He said he would comment at the sentencing hearing.

Hylton's attorney, Robert J. Ruffner, will argue at a sentencing hearing to be set later that Hylton should spend less than the initial 50 years in prison.

Before the hearing, Ruffner said Hylton was pleading guilty to accept responsibility for what he had done.

Hylton, a thin, 6-foot-6 man, said little in court except, "Yes, your honor" and, "Guilty, your honor" in response to a series of questions from the judge.

Kelley described a nightmare scene of May 27, 2008, listing horrific injuries, blood, screams, alarms, a gun and knives. He said Hylton walked through the Guerrettes' rural home looking for people and was determined to not leave witnesses alive.

It was apparently a robbery gone awry, Kelley said.

He said Hylton and his foster brother, Daniel L. Fortune, 21, who shared an apartment in Augusta, had planned to rob the family and use cash for bail money.

A warrant had been issued for Fortune's arrest after he failed to appear in court on a charge he stole more than $100,000 in cash and collectible currency from the Guerrette home in November 2007.

Kelley said the two men used a car from Hylton's aunt in Augusta and drove to the Guerrettes' rural home on the night of the attack. He said two black males are visible on video footage from security cameras at the Muskie Federal Building on Sewall Street at midnight and again at 3 a.m.

A security alarm woke William Guerrette, a former Maine legislator, just before 2 a.m., Kelley said, and he got up to investigate.

"He recalls seeing a very thin black male scurrying in the house," Kelley said.

Guerrette was not wearing his glasses, and so did not recognize Hylton by sight, Kelley said, although they had met previously. Kelley said Guerrette has some memory loss as a result of his injuries.

"It was in the hallway close to the dining room when he received the first blow," Kelley said. Guerrette then went into the bedroom to fetch a gun to try to scare off the intruders, Kelley said, but the gun was unloaded.

Guerrette recalls coming out of the bedroom and falling after being struck again, Kelley said. He saw Nicole on the stairs and saw her being assaulted, apparently by a second person.

Police were called by Melanie Guerrette, who fled from a bathroom window; by Ashley, the Guerrettes' older daughter, who hid under a bed; and by the home-alarm company. Police found William and Nicole Guerrette covered in blood.

William Guerrette's arm was almost severed, but he was conscious enough to say his assailant had been a black man, Kelley said. The attack cost him a finger, the ability to shut one eye and numerous broken bones.

The deputy who found Nicole, who had severe head injuries and had crawled back under the blankets of her bed, thought she had been shot, Kelley told the judge.

Hylton and Fortune were questioned by police hours after the attack. Both denied being at the Guerrette home.

Shortly afterward, Hylton confessed to a friend, Kelley said, telling her the pair had stolen his aunt's car and gone to Pittston, and "Dan got sloppy."

"Once they got there, everything went wrong," Kelley said. "Hylton got involved for the love of his brother."

Hylton was arrested two days after the home invasion and confessed to police, showing on videotape how he swung the machete and showing officers where the men discarded the clothing and weapon.

Kelley said Hylton ran up the stairs to attack Nicole, kicked open doors and searched the house.

"He couldn't go back to jail," Kelley said. "He had to make sure there were no witnesses."

Fortune, who was arrested several days after Hylton, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including four counts of aggravated attempted murder, and is scheduled to be in Kennebec County Superior Court for a docket call at 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to a court clerk.

Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty said Hylton's guilty pleas were a result of hard work by the Kennebec Sheriff's Office and the Maine State Police.

"The several-months-long investigation was done so professionally that the defense attorney saw that this was best result for his client," Liberty said.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com