The state’s highest court rejected the appeal of double murderer David W. “D-Money” Marble, who killed an Augusta man and pregnant woman on Christmas morning in 2015.
Marble, 33, appealed his conviction for the murders of Augusta residents Eric Williams, 33, and Bonnie Royer, 26, to the Maine Supreme Court, with his attorney arguing the conviction should be thrown out because evidence was obtained from his cellphone without probable cause.
The Supreme Court justices, in an opinion written by Justice Ellen Gorman and issued Thursday, denied the appeal, ruling that there was probable cause shown, in an affidavit submitted by police to obtain a search warrant signed by a judge, to believe that Marble was involved in both homicides and that information gathered from his cellphone was evidence relevant to that crime.
“From the facts in the affidavit, the judge who issued the warrant could infer that Marble knew the victims and was in close and very recent contact with them — the male victim worked for Marble in the local drug trade, and Marble had called him nine times over the course of the prior two days, including one call just over an hour before the murders; that Marble had the ability to commit the crime — he had recently acquired two guns; and that Marble likely had a motive — the male victim appeared to owe Marble money and had also burgled Marble’s apartment just hours before the murders,” the court opinion states.
Marble was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. He was also thrust into the spotlight by former Gov. Paul LePage, who mentioned Marble by his nickname “D-Money” at a 2016 town hall meeting in Bridgton.
Marble’s attorney, Tina Heather Nadeau, argued that there was not probable cause sufficient enough for the search warrant to have been issued and police’s request for cellphone records was too broad.
Police sought, and received, a search warrant allowing them access to the cellphone data of seven people, including Marble, who had called Williams’s cellphone in the hours before he was killed.
Marble’s cellphone information indicated he had traveled from Augusta to an area of gravel pits along Summerhaven Road, where the killings took place.
Donald W. Macomber, assistant attorney general, argued the lower court properly denied Marble’s motion to suppress the cellphone evidence, that there was probable cause, and that even if there wasn’t sufficient probable cause, police had relied on the judge’s finding there was probable cause so the evidence they found acting on it was still admissible in court.
Around 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2015, a woman later identified as Royer called 911 on Williams’ cellphone to report she had been shot. Police tracked the 9-1-1 call to the Summerhaven Road in Manchester, where they found the bodies of both victims in Williams’ car. No gun was found at the scene, but Williams’ cellphone was found in Royer’s lap.
Marble, of Rochester, New York, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and did not testify as his trial, at which he was found guilty by a jury.
Authorities said the killings were drug-related, and that Williams bought drugs from Marble and assisted him in dealing drugs. Testimony at the trial indicated Marble was mad at Williams because he heard he had burglarized the Augusta apartment where Marble was staying, taking television sets, drugs and a gun, while Marble was being driven to the Portland area to obtain drugs.
So Marble arranged for Williams, who was with his girlfriend, Royer, to pick him up shortly after 3 a.m. Christmas Day and drive to the entrance of a gravel pit. Authorities said Marble killed them in the vehicle as retribution for the burglary.
Kennebec County sheriff’s deputies and an Augusta police officer reached the site about 4:06 a.m. on Christmas and found both Williams and Royer shot in the head.
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