Before a Kennebec County jury found John A. Okie, 22 of Newcastle, guilty of two counts of murder last week, jurors absorbed approximately two weeks of compelling testimony, culminating in hours of final arguments the morning of Dec. 19.
The state based its contention that Okie knowingly killed two people on testimony from friends and two psychologists, Drs. John Young and Ann LeBlanc. Lead attorney for the state, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese in closing arguments called Okie a “spoiled” young man. “Johnny wanted what he wanted, when he wanted,” she said.
Marchese passionately laid out the state’s contention that John Okie knew exactly what he was doing when he murdered Alexandra Leigh “Aleigh” Mills, 19, on July 10, 2007 in her home in Wayne, and then killed his father John S. Okie, on July 16 in Newcastle.
“Don’t leave your common sense at the door,” Marchese told the jury, “return a verdict of guilty.”
Marchese said the state had proven “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Okie intentionally and knowingly caused the death of Mills and his father. “We don’t need to be concerned with premeditation.”
She told the jury Okie’s mother, Karen Okie, a witness for the defense, loved her son and while testifying said she believed Johnny killed due to mental illness, nonetheless she told police at the time of the murders that Johnny as ‘normal.'” Marchese believed, “Karen rewrote history. She’s in a horrible spot; she lost her husband of 25 years, and her son did it. She’s a victim in many ways.”
Marchese also recounted in grand jury testimony under oath, Karen Okie had said, “He’s normal. It’s only later, she says ‘normal for Johnny.'”
Though underage, state witnesses attested to Okie’s drinking, marijuana and cigarette smoking, and “partying.” “Friends don’t notice he’s having any symptoms [of psychosis],” Marchese said.
If Okie was as delusionally psychotic as the defense contended, and Okie believed there were “evil groups, his mind was exposed, and he was on a mission to open the gates of heaven for the good group, how is it no one sees it?” Marchese asked. “No one sees it because it isn’t there.”
Turning to psychological testimony of Dr. LeBlanc, Marchese quoted her as saying it was “highly implausible to be that psychotic and lead a normal life.”
“He was smoking too much pot and drinking too much; he’s a stoner. He’s showing symptoms of that,” Marchese said.
Marchese did not dispute all the testimony supporting Okie’s 2004 hospitalization and diagnosis at that time of paranoid schizophrenia. “Now, Johnny knows what that’s like,” Marchese said supporting the contention that Okie was not psychotic or delusional at the time of the slayings, but was “faking” symptoms.
The attorney illustrated for the jury the outcomes of psychological testing performed on Okie to substantiate Dr. Young’s finding that, “the stories of delusions are inconsistent,” and “he made them up.”
“If you find he’s feigning, your job is easy,” Marchese told the jury, “you must find him guilty.”
Addressing the character of John Okie, Marchese said, “Who is John Okie? The defense says, ‘he’s a very sick boy.’ He’s a lazy, self-indulgent young man. In 2007, he’s pot smoking, using alcohol, and doesn’t-want-to-work. He’s got plenty of pot, a credit card, and likes having his way.”
“His sister [Rylan Okie] said he was called the “slacker” and “the sloth” by their father. No one refers to him as severely ill. Don’t you think if Karen had seen signs [of illness] she would have found resources to take him to the doctor in Boston, or Spring Harbor, or to the emergency room? Shortly before the murders she set him up [to see a doctor] because he was smoking too much and not getting a job. That’s why,” Marchese said.
In examining the Okie’s actions at the times of the murders, Marchese points out though clumsy, he nonetheless did try to hide his crimes. “When interviewed by Deputy Tupper about the Mills murder, he’s so good, Tupper lets him go,” Marchese said.
Marchese said, after killing Mills, Okie took her cell phone, which would show he had called her the night of the murder. “He had been partying,” and called Aleigh because he wanted sex, not because he was going to kill her, Marchese said. “He didn’t have a weapon. She was a willing partner,” Marchese said, also saying Aleigh felt Johnny was her first love.
She then described Okie’s attempts to hide the crime, burning clothing, wiping fingerprints, taking the cell phone, all indicative of organized thinking, not psychotic actions. “The killing was not premeditated, but was intentional. He made sure she died,” Marchese said.
In the murder of his father, Marchese again pointed out Okie’s apparent organized thinking, but this time knowing he was going to commit murder. “He kills his Dad, takes a shower, changes clothes, but forgets to grab the bag. When he picks up his mother, she doesn’t notice there’s anything wrong with him. He’s a great actor,” Marchese said. “People commit brutal crimes everyday without mental illness.”
Marchese also told of Okie’s efforts to mislead police during their investigation, claiming another employee of his parents’ could have killed his father.
In his closing arguments, defense attorney for John A. Okie, Peter DeTroy told the jury Okie was not criminally responsible because of active delusional psychosis.
DeTroy said Okie was due some compassion. “Johnny didn’t come into this world a monster. He’s afflicted with a powerful and lifelong disease.”
DeTroy reiterated all the defense’s expert medical witnesses about a diagnosis of delusional paranoid schizophrenia as the cause of Johnny’s behavior between the break in 2004 and the murders in 2007, not drug abuse.
Outlining the history of the defense’s case, DeTroy recounted the course of psychosis may be abrupt or insidious, something seen in retrospect.
The family believed Johnny was “going through a phase” which was why they were unable to recognize Okie’s illness. “They want to believe Johnny will be okay, even when there are serious problems after the hospitalization.
DeTroy recalled to the jury the incidences of Okie’s erratic behavior including his running away, scrapes with the law, being found locked in a women’s restroom, pushing his sister, pot smoking, and lack of motivation as symptoms of psychosis.
DeTroy also said Okie had stopped his medications which contributed to his onset of illness post hospitalization of 2004.
“He stopped taking his medications in May of 2005, but didn’t admit to that,” DeTroy said.
DeTroy said repeatedly “Johnny had gone underground” as the reason no one could testify they witnessed active delusions. He also said Karen Okie has a “mother’s intuition” that something is wrong with her son.
“Karen Okie is overwhelmed by grief and guilt. It has been devastating for the entire family, but he’s sick. This isn’t someone who is just smoking too much pot. He’s partying, smoking pot, and couldn’t concentrate. That wasn’t him, that was the disease.”
DeTroy closed saying, “This is a terrible illness and situation. His illness interfered with his capacity. At the time, he knew, but it was his delusional system. Find that he’s responsible, but he did not have substantial capacity to understand what he was doing.”
