Sherman man James Maharg found guilty in murder of his husband - Danbury News Times

The charges against Maharg stemmed from the March 2019 decease of his husband, Thomas Conley, whose cold, bare assemblage was recovered astatine the bottommost of a staircase wrong the couple’s Church Road location successful Sherman. Maharg had admitted to constabulary that helium killed Conley. 

The authorities aesculapian examiner determined that 63-year-old Conley bled to decease aft sustaining 4 lacerations to the head, and ruled his decease a homicide.

The three-judge sheet — consisting of  Judges Robin Pavia, Tracy Lee Dayton and Maximino Medina Jr. — agreed with the prosecution.

“Based upon the facts … the sheet unanimously finds that the authorities has proven beyond a tenable uncertainty the indispensable elements of the crimes of execution and tampering with evidence,” said Pavia, speechmaking the verdict Friday.

She said grounds presented successful proceedings showed Maharg “specifically intended to origin the decease of the unfortunate and that, successful accordance with that intent … did origin the decease of the victim.”

The sheet concluded that Maharg had utilized a weighted and crisp entity to inflict Conley’s injuries and “repeatedly bludgeoned” him, resulting successful “severe and yet fatal injuries to the apical of (his) head,” according to the verdict work successful tribunal Friday.

Based connected humor grounds astatine the scene, the sheet concluded that Maharg assaulted his hubby “over the people of the evening” and ignored his “immediate request for aesculapian intervention.”

“The suspect failed to question exigency aesculapian attraction portion the unfortunate bled to death, contempt the defendant’s quality to bash truthful from either his location oregon cellular telephone — both of which were operational,” Pavia said.

Couple faced escalating problems

The incidental was the culmination of months of escalating occupation for the couple, who had been unneurotic for 30 years and joined for three.

During trial, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Deborah Mabbett said the once-wealthy mates had go broke and struggled with alcoholism. 

“They had nary money, their location was successful foreclosure and they were having fiscal problems,” she said during closing arguments. “They were acrophobic astir appearances with family, friends and neighbors.” 

According to the warrant for Maharg’s apprehension — arsenic good arsenic the testimony of witnesses during trial — the mates had been drinking respective bottles of tequila a time arsenic a mode of dealing with their failing retail proviso concern and the information that they were losing their 20-acre farmhouse to the bank.

Mabbett had besides mentioned a “history of home violence” successful the relationship, referencing grounds by a New Milford Hospital nurse, who said Conley told her his hubby had kicked him successful the ribs.

Evidence tampering charge

Maharg — who has been held astatine the Cheshire Correctional Institution connected a $2 cardinal enslaved since his March 2019 apprehension — waived his close to attest successful his trial.

His attorney, Vicki Hutchinson, argued the evidence presented by the authorities failed to beryllium that her lawsuit killed Conley and was “inconclusive astatine best.” Though a execution limb was ne'er identified, Mabbett claimed that the authorities had “proved beyond a tenable doubt” that Maharg caused the wounds to Conley’s scalp, which resulted successful monolithic bleeding and his death.

The judges recovered that Maharg not lone altered and destroyed the transgression country by cleaning humor from the room floor, precocious landing of the stairs and Conley’s body, but moved Conley’s assemblage postmortem and attempted to signifier the country to marque it look arsenic though helium fell down the stairs.

“The suspect provided implausible explanations to the 911 operator, the paramedic and the responding officers regarding however the unfortunate allegedly sustained his injuries, i.e. the unfortunate fell and deed his caput connected a cabinet,” she said.

The three-judge panel’s factual findings volition beryllium included successful a to-be-filed afloat memorandum of decision.

The tribunal plans to reconvene for sentencing connected Jan. 25. Maharg faces 25 years to beingness successful situation connected the execution charge.