AUGUSTA — Instead of reporting to prison Friday, a former Clinton man injured in a botched murder-suicide attempt almost four years ago can remain at a nursing home in Waterville.
Edward J. Domasinsky, now 59, who shot himself in the face with a rifle after firing a shotgun at his then-girlfriend, won a six-month delay Wednesday in starting his prison term and might end up not reporting at all because of his injuries and a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Domasinsky, using a walker and accompanied by a caseworker, was at the Capital Judicial Center with his attorney Wednesday to seek another stay before he had to begin a two-year period behind bars.
On May 4, Domasinsky had pleaded guilty to criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence assault.
He was sentenced to an initial two years in prison, with the remainder of the five year sentence suspended during three years of probation, and ordered to report Friday, to begin the sentence.
An affidavit by Clinton police Officer David Cobb describes the Jan. 5, 2014, events between Domasinsky and his then-girlfriend, Linda Owens at the Horseback Road home they shared.
Cobb wrote that a verbal altercation turned physical when Domasinsky started punching Owens in the face with his fists. It says he then choked her until she passed out, and she regained consciousness to find Domasinsky holding a 12-gauge shotgun at her.
Cobb said Owens deflected the shotgun when Domsinsky pulled the trigger, so she suffered powder burns to her left shoulder and her clothes were damaged.
Domasinsky then got a rifle and shot himself, and Owens fled.
Then a neighbor called 911 to say Domasinsky had attempted to break in there looking for Owens.
Police found Domasinsky sitting in his running pickup truck outside his residence. He followed their orders to get out of the vehicle and he was taken to a local hospital and eventually taken by LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
In a filing at the court in November, Domasinsky’s attorney, Sherry Tash, sought to extend the stay for Domasinsky. He originally had been ordered to report to jail Friday, a delay that his attorney had said would allow him to have jaw reconstruction and prosthetic dental work.
Tash wrote that he “suffered extremely serious injuries during the incident … he shot himself in the face and among other issues was left with a severely damaged jaw and almost no teeth causing him to be on a feeding tube.”
Tash wrote that Domasinsky had lengthy hospital stays and numerous reconstructive surgeries.
In the latest request, she noted that Domasinsky had been diagnosed with stage IV melanoma, a form of cancer that had metastasized, had been treated with radiation and required additional treatment. Tash noted that the dental prosthetic work had not taken place because of the cancer and that he remained on a feeding tube.
She quoted from a Nov. 10 letter from Domsinsky’s oncologist saying the prognosis was “extremely poor” and that Domasinsky had “less than six months.”
Domasinsky is now at Mount Saint Joseph Residence and Rehabilitation Center in Waterville.
“Given that defendant’s life expectancy is less than six months even with treatment, if defendant starts his prison sentence on Dec. 1, 2017, it is virtually certain he will die in prison,” she said.
At the brief hearing Wednesday, Justice William Stokes granted a stay until June 1, 2018.
The state took no position with regard to the stay.
“The last time (in court) we said it was the last time we would agree to an extension,” District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Thursday. “This time we asked the court to make the decision. We recognize he’s been given a lot of extensions and we’re not prepared to agree, but at the same time, we had to recognize the reality of his physical condition.”
She said Domasinsky appeared noticeably emaciated at the hearing.
When Domasinsky was released from the hospital about nine months after the shooting, he was the first person to be placed on electronic monitoring under what was then a new program in Somerset County.
At that time, Maloney said Domasinsky’s medical condition — including a tracheostomy, feeding tubes and two types of cancer — made it impossible for him to be held in jail, and the electronic monitoring would allow him to go to required medical appointments.
Maloney said the electronic monitoring, in the form of a bracelet, provided assurance to the victim.
“She was frightened, understandably so,” Maloney said Thursday. “He had already shot at her once.”
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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