BANGOR — On Wednesday, approximately three hours after they began deliberations, jurors returned to a second floor courtroom at the Penobscot County Superior Court in Bangor, and pronounced Rory Holland guilty on two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of brothers Derek and Gage Greene.
On June 30, 2009, at approximately 1 a.m., Holland, 56, of Biddeford, shot and killed both Derek Greene, 21, and Gage Greene, 19, in front of his home at 58 South St.
Holland, who had pleaded not guilty, claiming he shot the brothers in self-defense, faces a sentence of between 25 years to life in prison for each murder count. He is being held in jail without bail, awaiting sentencing that will take place at a later date at York County Superior Court in Alfred.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Tammy Cole, mother of the young men, after the verdict was announced. She and the numerous friends and family who packed the courthouse on the final day of the trial cried when the verdict was announced.
“They were normal kids, they partied,” said Cole to reporters after the verdict. “They didn’t deserve to be gunned down and die.”
She said she considers her sons heroes.
Because of the guilty verdict, said Cole, Holland will never be able to hurt anyone again.
Holland has been charged with numerous crimes in York County, dating back at least 10 years. They range from assault to criminal mischief, terrorizing and other charges. He was also convicted of attempting to murder his 16-month-old daughter in Kansas in 1977.
“This was the hardest day I’ve ever done,” said Cole. “Now my boys can rest in peace, and I can have a little bit of my life back.”
Defense attorney Amanda Doherty said she was shocked with the verdict and that the jury came back with it so quickly.
The case was complicated and the inclusion of a self-defense justification for the shootings complicated it even further, she said.
In addition, jurors were not given evidence relating to Holland’s criminal past.
Before the trial, said Doherty, attorneys went over all the possibilities with the defendant. Holland wasn’t pleased with the outcome, but he was prepared for it, she said.
Assistant Maine Attorney General Lisa Marchese said she was pleased with the guilty verdict. She was especially pleased, said Marchese, that Holland would remain behind bars for a very long time, possibly the rest of his life.
“Rory Holland is and was a very dangerous person on the streets of Biddeford,” said the prosecutor.
Marchese said she didn’t want to second-guess the jury, but she had some theories as to why the jury returned with a verdict so quickly.
“It might suggest they never bought self-defense in the first place,” she said.
The brothers were on their way to Gage Greene’s apartment on Williams Court, two doors down from Holland’s home, when Holland shot them.
Defense attorneys said that Holland was afraid of Derek Greene and his friends after an altercation on May 12, 2009.
This incident resulted in the arrest of Derek Greene for assaulting Holland, as well the arrest of Elijah Copeland, Greene’s friend, for criminally threatening Holland.
Both men were ordered to stay away from Holland as a result of their bail conditions.
During closing arguments on Wednesday, defense attorney Clifford Strike, with the Portland law firm Strike, Goodwin & O’Brien, said that Holland was legally standing in front of his home when the brothers and their friends walked by.
Holland was afraid, said Strike, because the group was drunk and angry. He said they surrounded Holland on all sides, circling him “like a pack of wolves.”
Assistant Maine Attorney General Lisa Marchese, dismissed the idea Holland was afraid. She said he was lying in wait for the Greene brothers to go by.
“Why was Rory Holland standing on South Street, at 1 a.m. with a 9 millimeter loaded firearm?” asked Marchese during her closing arguments. “If he was so afraid, why was he standing on a sidewalk at 1 a.m.?”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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