Arline Lawless was sentenced to 35 years in prison and ordered to pay $4500 in restitution in Lincoln County Superior Court this morning for her role in the shooting death of 34-year-old Norman Benner of Waldoboro.
Lawless, 25, of Waldoboro, had initially plead not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of knowing or intentional murder when she was charged in Benner’s death in October 2012. She changed her plea to guilty, during an appearance in Knox County Superior Court June 26.
Lawless fatally shot Benner at a shared residence on Friendship Road in Waldoboro July 21, 2012.
According to an affidavit filed by Maine State Police Det. Abbe Chabot in support of an Aug. 7, 2012 arrest warrant, Lawless told Maine State Police detectives she shot Benner in his sleep after he told her he planned to leave her. Lawless also suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face.
Lawless was arrested Aug. 15, 2012 as she was being discharged from the Spring Harbor treatment center in Westbrook. According to its website, Spring Harbor is a provider of inpatient services for individuals who experience acute mental illness or dual disorders issues.
According to Chabot’s affidavit, Benner’s body was discovered in his bed by his sister, Kimberly Simmons, on July 23, and reported in a 911 call to Lincoln County Communications Center.
Waldoboro Police Officer Jeffrey Fuller responded and found Benner deceased and Lawless “incoherent and injured” next to Benner, according to the affidavit.
Lawless was subsequently transported to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta and then transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment of her gunshot wound.
Teresa Gamage, Benner’s aunt, said “he cared more about people than about material things.”
Looking around, Gamage said she saw family and friends supporting each other and looking for closure in a “horrific nightmare.”
“I just want her [Lawless] to know she has taken a wonderful man from each and every one of us,” Gamage said.
Dawn Benner, Norman’s mother, described her son as a protector who loved his sister and cousins and was always willing to help anyone.
Dawn said she knew something was wrong the night Norman was killed when he did not come home. When she and Kimberly went to the Friendship Street home and found Norman the next morning, “it was like being in a horror movie.”
“I knew Normie was dead. If I thought he was alive, I would have done anything to save him,” she said.
Norman knew Lawless was “pitiful” and was trying to break it off with her, Dawn said.
“I do not think 35 years is enough for someone who knew him [for] four months and decided to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger,” Dawn said.
The loss of Norman has “consumed our lives,” said Kimberly Simmons, Norman’s sister. “I’m so disgusted because he didn’t deserve this. He was murdered for being too good.”
Simmons said it has traumatized her children, who are now left without any aunts or uncles. “My son can’t even speak about it,” she said.
“This is a domestic violence case; this is a domestic violence murder,” Hjelm said.
Lawless acted out of jealously and a sense of entitlement, and there was no evidence that Benner had provoked or mistreated her, Hjelm said.
“Ms. Lawless treated Mr. Benner, really, like a piece of property,” he said.
The murder was premeditated, and Lawless shot Benner in the back of the head while he was likely sleeping or otherwise defenseless, Hjelm said. “This was a profoundly cowardly act,” he said.
The evidence uniformly established that Benner was a good man, and Lawless’s sentence was in no way a measure of the victim, Hjelm said. “[The sentence] is not some sort of evaluation of the person that is lost,” he said.
The family opposed the 35 year sentence recommended by both the prosecution and the defense, which is understandable, Hjelm said.
“That is a sentence that I think, ultimately under the law, is a proper sentence,” he said.
One mitigating factor in the case was Lawless had no prior criminal record at the time of the murder, Hjelm said.
Even though Lawless, at the time of the murder, had pleaded guilty in a criminal case of felony theft (Class C) in Knox County, the plea was in deferred disposition and the charge was a property crime and not a violent crime, Hjelm said.
Lawless was also sentenced to one year in prison for the theft, to be served concurrently with the murder sentence, and to pay $5800 in restitution to the victims named in the indictment.
In entering her guilty plea for the murder charge, Lawless “unconditionally and unequivocally” accepted responsibility for the crime, Hjelm said. The guilty plea also established certainty of the outcome in the case, and spared Benner’s family members the further trauma of needing to testify in court.
People affected by Benner’s death can now move on to the next step of the healing process, Hjelm said.
Benner’s mother and sister in particular experienced psychological trauma in finding his body that morning, Hjelm said.
“That is a nightmare that they will never be able to wake up from,” he said.
