July 18, 1984
Westbrook resident Lisa Morelli was found guilty of manslaughter yesterday in the shooting death of Truman Dongo. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated a total of nine hours. Other possible findings were guilty of murder, guilty of aggravated assault, or not guilty. She was released in the custody of her parents after they posted a bail of $50,000 using their Westbrook property as surety. Clerk of Courts Donna Howe said sentencing would probably be in three weeks after a probation officer reviews the case. Morelli, 22, went on trial July 9 in Oxford County Superior Court, South Paris, for the murder of Dongo, a cocaine dealer. The state sought to convict her of murder. She was the state’s key witness in the May murder conviction of brothers Michael and Robert Marshall in Dongo’s death. They are expected to be sentenced at 9 a.m. July 27 in Cumberland County Courthouse.
The decision to buy state championship rings for the Westbrook High School’s basketball team and coaches was made by the School Department, not by the Westbrook Boosters Club, the club’s president, Thomas E. Tibbetts, said this week. The club raised about $530 in contributions from businesses and two clubs toward a total cost for the rings of $1,260, but contributions stopped after the City Council failed to appropriate the extra $700, Tibbetts said. Superintendent Edward Connolly reported to the School Committee last week that he found $700 in school funds and used them to pay the difference.
Proposals for three subdivisions totaling up to 400 new homes were presented to the Gorham Planning Board last week, leading the Town Council to ask the board to revise the 1972 comprehensive plan. Dr. Ronald Brooks, a Planning Board member, told the Town Council that the Planning Board is under “unbelievable pressure” from developers. Council Chairman Carol Day said the three projects could have brought 1,000 to 1,200 new residents, enough to require another school. Gorham has a self-imposed cap of 90 new homes a year and was at that limit in 1983 with 90 permits issued. Calling for revision of the comprehensive plan, Mrs. Day said that if the town gets into a court test about its zoning ordinance, the court is not likely to accept a plan more than 10 years old and prefers one no more than five years old. The council was unanimous in asking the Planning Board to revise the plan after setting up public hearings and holding workshop meetings.
Westbrook School Superintendent Edward F. Connolly was sick in bed yesterday, taking medication for an ear infection. His office said the infection developed after his repeated dunking as a volunteer victim in the dunking tank at Westbrook Together Day June 16.
July 20, 1994
Gorham Police Lt. Ron Shepard and Detective Wayne “Pooch” Drown drove to Lewiston Monday morning to arrest Willis N. Doughty Jr., Hillside Lane, Lewiston, for the attempted armed robbery of the Gorham Shop ‘n Save on May 31. Two Lewiston detectives and one uniformed officer accompanied Shepard and Drown. While one of the Lewiston detectives waited behind the apartment building, the other officers knocked on the front door. After introducing themselves to Doughty’s wife, they asked if he was home. “Oh no, he isn’t home,” said the woman, according to Shepard. “Why don’t you come on in?” Police claim once Doughty saw the cruiser and unmarked vehicles stop in front of his house, he headed for a rear window, not knowing that a Lewiston detective was waiting out back. Doughty took the screen off the window and started to climb out. The detective waited until he was halfway out before telling him to freeze. Doughty was searched, handcuffed, and taken to Androscoggin County Jail. He was later transferred to Cumberland County Jail and arraigned in Superior Court, charged with armed robbery. Bail was set at $30,000.
Shirley Jordan, Whitehouse Court, has been nominated by the Democratic City Committee to replace Dorothy Melanson as Ward 1 member of the Westbrook School Committee. Melanson moved to Falmouth. Jordan is the daughter of former Alderman Malcolm Noyes and Mrs. Noyes.
Barbara Doughty Jensen, Austin Street, and June Burton, Duck Pond Road, both in Westbrook, spent two weeks in Florida recently and visited Barbara’s brother-in-law and sister, Walter and Gladys Doughty Howarth, in Clearwater. They went to the Universal Studio, Orlando, and drove for miles on Daytona Beach – they hadn’t known cars were allowed. They toured St. Augustine, the nation’s oldest city, founded in 1565, with quaint houses and schools and narrow streets.
Maynard and Jane Charron, 4 Longview Drive, held a big Maine clambake under a tent at their home when her parents, Harry and Dorothy Mohrman, North Granby, Conn., marked their 50th wedding anniversary. Co-hosting it were her brother and family, David and Cynthia Mohrman and Nate and Sarah, Simsbury, Conn.; Mary Jo Mohrman, Tampa, Fla.; and Barbara Mohrman, Charlestown, Mass. Luckily, the heavy rain held off until the clambake was over.
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