Episode 199: The Murder of Amy Theriault
Amy Theriault was born in Fort Kent, Maine, in 1982 and right from the start, she was a kind, compassionate person. She had plenty of friends surrounding her and even from an early age tended to be caring and kind to everyone she met. By the time she was 31-years-old, Amy found herself working as both a certified nursing assistant and a medical technician - two jobs which fit her very well. When it came to caring for people, that is just what Amy did best. She had put in 14 years working at Forest Hill Manor and loved on the residents that she took care of as if they were her own family. Amy was loved by her coworkers and was described as being empathetic, outgoing, and good-hearted. She was also the devoted mom to her two young daughters who she based her whole world around.
In late May of 2014, Amy had been struggling with an on-again, off-again relationship with someone for over two years. 38-year-old Jesse Marquis, who worked at a local elementary school as a custodian, had not been a great match for Amy, but they maintained their toxic relationship and even lived together. Like Amy, Jesse also had a child from a previous relationship, a young son, who lived at their shared house half the time. On the outside, Amy and Jesse seemed fine - like a nice couple who cared about each other deeply. However, on May 30th, 2014, Amy had decided that she was done.
Jesse had been staying at a mutual friend’s camp in St. Francis, Maine with his young son, and he had taken Amy’s car. Bringing her two friends and her sister as backup, Amy drove to the camp to retrieve her car and finally break things off with Jesse for good. When they got there, Jesse was visibly upset and intoxicated. Amy asked for her car keys and he gave them to her, Jesse asked for money and she gave some to him. Amy wanted to leave as soon as possible as Jesse was getting more desperate and more upset. He had clearly been drinking and his behavior was becoming more erratic. Amy and her friends left and they stayed over at her house with her, just in case.
In the meantime, Jesse had texted his ex-wife to come get their young son, who she had just dropped off with him three hours earlier. His ex-wife initially went to Amy’s home first to pick up her son, unaware that he would be at this camp in St. Francis. Amy and her two friends then accompanied her to the camp to retrieve her son and his belongings. While here, Jesse had escalated to being even more upset, and more than likely, even more drunk. He was tearful as he gathered his son’s belongings and by the time everyone left, he was curled up on the floor of the camp, crying. While his ex-wife and son were on their way back to Amy’s house to pick up the rest of his belongings, Jesse sent some text messages to her saying, “I want to be with you and the boy, I’m tired of being out in the cold.” He then proceeded to text Amy, asking her what he did wrong and if she would come pick him up, as well as saying, “I had plans for us.”
The next morning on May 31st, police were called to Amy’s home for reports of domestic violence. Jesse had showed up at 6:00 a.m., asking for his laptop and work keys but then wanted to talk to Amy. She politely but firmly told Jesse she needed to get ready for work and asked him to wait outside. Jesse instead forced his way in the home and Amy tried to defend herself with a small knife. Now enraged after getting a small cut on his knuckle, Jesse picked up the knife that had fallen on the floor and chased Amy through her home. She grabbed a pair of scissors to try to protect herself, but Jesse began stabbing her with the knife. He stabbed her eleven times until the knife broke off in her skull. He then saw she was trying to reach for a rifle and he grabbed it and shot her in the chest. A witness saw him run into the woods still holding the rifle.
Amy’s friends also witnessed Jesse in the home, and he pointed the rifle at one friend as she desperately ran to call 911. Her friends attempted CPR, but Amy devastatingly died from the injuries. With Jesse on the run and armed and dangerous, police blocked off the only road in and out of the small town and enlisted the help of Border Patrol as St. Francis was close to the Canadian border. Jesse worked as the elementary school’s janitor and had keys to the school, and as the weekend began coming to a close and the school week was about to start, authorities formed a plan for the students to be bussed to another school for their safety.
Amy’s family, friends, loved ones, beloved coworkers and the community bravely gathered for Amy’s services six days after the murder with Jesse still on the run from police. Over 300 people attended and the service was a sea of purple with everyone wearing the color for domestic violence awareness. A separate service was held for the residents of Forest Hill Manor to allow them to remember Amy and grieve the traumatic loss.
Jesse was apprehended in the woods after a bloodhound named Daisy Mae was brought in to help locate him. He had been on the run for six days. He was arrested without incident, but quickly began trying to claim self defense. The court determined that as Amy asked him to wait outside and he proceeded to force his way into the home, wield a knife at Amy and chase her through her own home before fatally attacking her, that a self defense plea was unwarranted.
His trial took place in June of 2016 and lasted only three days. Despite his objecting, three photographs of the crime scene were shown to the jury, as well as a whole slew of text messages from the 12 hours before she was killed. It did not take the jury very long to find him guilty, and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Jesse immediately appealed, once again citing the relevance of the text messages and the crime scene photos, implying that they would sway the jury a certain way. The court ruled that both of these pieces of evidence were both relevant and important, and his appeal was denied.
Amy’s family did not stop with getting justice for their daughter. They began working incredibly hard to get legislation in place to help prevent further murders from domestic violence. Over half the murders in the state of Maine are a result of domestic violence, and Amy’s mom Barbara wanted permanent change to prevent future tragedies. The bill called “An Act to Add Domestic Violence Against the Victim as an Aggravating Factor in Sentencing for Murder,” otherwise known as “Amy’s Law”, unanimously passed in 2019.
Amy’s mom Barbara stated “There have been some positive changes since Amy’s death. Batterer intervention therapy and Amy’s Law have impacted victims’ and families’ lives. The loss of Amy was a tragedy that affected a lot of people’s lives, and it resulted in increased awareness in our community as people still remember… Her death caused people to listen and take action to prevent it. I believe her death has probably saved lives because people now know that doing nothing about domestic violence can result in death.”
The Hope and Justice Project, who sponsored a memorial walk for Amy on the five year anniversary of her murder, is in Aroostook County and assists anyone who has experienced or been impacted by abuse or violence. They are available 24/7 and their free, confidential phone number is phone number is 1-800-439-2323.
Image sources:
thecounty.me - “Family of murdered St. Francis woman attends signing of law in her name”