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

KILLED HIS MOTHER

McDonald pleads guilty to murder

44-year-old man faces up to 40 years in prison

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- Kenneth McDonald, on trial this week in Kennebec County Superior Court for the 2009 killing of his mother, abruptly pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of murder.

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Kenneth McDonald is escorted back to the Kennebec County Jail Wednesday from Superior Court after pleading guilty to the murder of his mother.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

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Justice Michaela Murphy accepted his plea and continued the case 30 days for sentencing. Under a plea agreement between the state, McDonald will receive a sentence of between 25 years in prison -- the minimum for murder under Maine law -- and 40 years.

McDonald, 44, killed Janice McDonald, 80, on Aug. 24, 2009, in their home on Highland Terrace in Monmouth. The circumstances of the vicious attack on Janice McDonald had been detailed over two days of graphic testimony.

The state's deputy medical examiner testified Monday that Janice McDonald died of sharp and blunt force trauma.

In the home's bathroom, investigators found a steak knife coated with Janice McDonald's blood and bearing bits of her hair. They also found the Kenneth McDonald's bloodied clothing, scientists from the Maine State Crime Laboratory testified Tuesday.

McDonald had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, but his attorney told jurors in his opening statement that McDonald did, in fact, kill his mother and should be found guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

The attorney, James Billings, said the stabbing was an act of rage, brought on by an argument after the 161-pound, 5-foot-4 inch woman refused her son permission to go to the coast.

Billings said the mother controlled every aspect of McDonald's life, including whether he could take money from his savings account.

McDonald, who was characterized in court by family and fellow workers as "slow," was employed part-time at the Monmouth Transfer Station.

Neither he nor his mother drove, so they were dependent on relatives, friends and neighbors for rides.

On a recording played for jurors on Tuesday, the 5-foot-8, 250-pound McDonald told Maine State Police detectives he and his mother got along well.

McDonald was missing from the home when his mother's body was discovered, and he was arrested the next day on Bailey Island.

Twenty-four witnesses had testified in the case over the two days of trial. McDonald was intending to testify, Billings told jurors at the trial's outset.

Billings told the judge he and McDonald discussed pleading guilty for more than three hours at the jail on Tuesday night, and talked again in a small room just outside the courtroom Wednesday morning about the consequences for McDonald for pleading guilty to murder.

At the hearing Wednesday morning, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea summarized the evidence in the case, and referred to testimony that had been heard over the two-day trial. She also told the judge that the 40-year capped sentence in exchange for the plea was offered to the defense months ago.

Zainea also said Janice McDonald's other children had been notified about the recommended sentence. None of the McDonald family members have been in court except when called to testify.

"He has since Sept. 1 of last year acknowledged his role in mother's death," Billings told the judge. He said the case for manslaughter would have required a showing of adequate provocation. "It became clear that defense would not be generated by Mr. McDonald's testimony," he said.

Billings said both he and Dr. Charles Robinson, a psychologist working for the defense, were convinced McDonald understood what he was doing in pleading guilty to murder.

After the hearing, Billings said, McDonald initially denied killing his mother because he was scared, but he admitted it soon afterward to Robinson and to doctors with the State Forensic Service.

"He knows this was a horrendous act and is tortured with guilt and knows he's got to be punished and feels like he deserves to be punished," Billings said.

Billings said McDonald truly misses his mother.

"He's really been lost because of this," he added. "There really was a close relationship."

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com