Ormsby gets life sentence

Thayne Ormsby
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Convicted murderer Thayne Ormsby will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
    Ormsby, 22, was given three life sentences, one for each murder, when he appeared in Aroostook county Superior Court Thursday. He was convicted April 13 in the stabbing deaths of Jason DeHahn, 30, Jeffrey Ryan, 55, and Jesse Ryan, 10, in a mobile home in Amity on June 22, 2010. All three died of multiple stab wounds.
    Should Ormsby earn any income during his lifetime in prison, he will be required to pay restitution to the victims’ compensation fund.
    Ormsby showed little emotion during his sentencing as family members of his victims fought back tears as they implored Justice E. Allen Hunter to give him the maximum life sentences. Nor did he convey any outward signs of remorse when judge Hunter asked of Ormsby had anything he wished to say to the court before his sentence was announced.
    “No thank you, sir,” Ormsby said.
    Those were the only words Ormsby spoke publicly during his trial.
    Judge Hunter, in his ruling, revealed that his research showed only one other person was a greater “mass murderer” in the state of Maine.
    “Mr. Ormsby is tied for second place in the annals of mass murder in Maine,” he said.
    He said while it was true that Ormsby had been denied “social justice” from the abuse and neglect from his childhood, that fact alone was not enough to sway the court into issuing anything other than a life sentence.
    During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General William Stokes recommended the court give life sentences for each of the three murder charges and an additional 30-year sentence for a case of arson. Ormsby attempted to conceal evidence by burning the truck he used to flee the scene of his crime.
    “When I spoke after the verdicts were announced, I stated this was such a waste of human life,” Stokes said. “We’re talking about three victims who were basically minding their own business, including a 10-year-old child who was butchered. There are no words to describe the horrific nature of these killings.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
LISTENING — Justice E. Allen Hunter listens to tesimony from Dr. John Lorenz during Thursday’s sentencing.
    Stokes said premeditation and multiple murders were each sufficient enough on their own to seek the maximum sentence.
    Ormsby’s attorneys James Dunleavy and Sarah LeClaire, asked the judge for a lesser sentence, with the hope of one day he be given a chance to get out of prison.
    Several family members of the slain victims spoke at the proceedings, asking the judge for the maximum sentence.
    Robert Dehahn, the father of Jason Dehahn, gave an emotional testimony.
    “I don’t know how to put into words the pain and suffering me and my family has been through,” he said. “It’s like someone has stuck a knife straight through my heart. Justice must be served. If it were up to me we would hang (Ormsby). The man shows no remorse for these crimes. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”
    Marie Vincent, the aunt of Jesse Ryan, read an article that Jesse had written as a school project on Feb. 1, 2010, just over four months before the murders took place. In that article, Jesse wrote that his greatest friend in the world was his father.
    Other family members spoke of how, two years removed, they still had nightmares that Ormsby might somehow escape from jail and murder them as well.
    Ormsby’s stoic façade did change, however, when his mother, Maria Ormsby, told the judge how proud she was of her son when he showed her the high school diploma he earned while incarcerated at the Aroostook County Jail.
    Janice Wilbur, Ormsby’s grandmother, told the court how she drove three hours to Houlton every Saturday for the past two years just to spend 50 minutes with her grandson.
    “We still have hope for him,” she said. “Everyone needs hope.”
    Ormsby’s attorneys have expressed they would consider filing an appeal. The defense has 21 days to file such an appeal.