Posted on 05/07/2005 9:03:57 AM PDT by Fido969
Murder suspect loses bid for victim's house
by Christina Sobran
ROCKLAND - The Rockport man accused of beating his live-in girlfriend to death in Portland in January said Wednesday he is entitled to inherit her Rockport home, but a judge disagreed.
David R. Haraden, 48, has been in Cumberland County Jail since Jan. 2, when police found him in a Portland hotel room with the body of Maxine Witham, 35, of Rockport. The medical examiner later determined she was beaten to death. Haraden was indicted in March for murder and has since pleaded not guilty. The murder trial is scheduled for November.
"What happened to her was horrible," Haraden said Wednesday in Knox County Probate Court. "I'm the one who found her. That doesn't make me a horrible person."
Witham owned the house she and Haraden had lived in at 249 Main St. in Rockport. The house, built in 1970, sits on four acres and has an assessed value of $264,600, according to town Assessor Tom Edwards. She had inherited the property in 1995, according to the deed to the property, from the estate of her mother, Jakelyn Rea Frame, who died in 1993.
After Witham's death in January, her father, Camden dentist Gary Witham, petitioned the court to declare that she died without leaving a will.
At issue in probate court Wednesday was whether a photocopy of a hand-written document purported to be written and signed by Maxine Witham on Dec. 14, 2003, should be considered a legally valid will.
"In the event of my death, I bequith [sic] all of my worldly possessions and belongings to David Rudolph Haraden ... My dog Barthley/Boulee is to become David's property," the document states.
In an order issued Friday morning, Judge Carol Emery sided with Dr. Witham, ruling that Maxine Witham died without leaving a will and that the document submitted is an unauthenticated photocopy.
"No convincing evidence was received that the copy of the signature at the bottom of the page was [Maxine Witham]'s signature," according to the judge's order.
Haraden has the right to appeal the judge's decision.
Representing himself in court, Haraden told the judge he is concerned that the issue of Maxine Witham's will could compromise his criminal defense.
He requested the case be postponed until he could find a lawyer, after complaining that he has been unable to find an attorney willing to represent him.
"I am just being thrown to the wolves," Haraden said. "I don't think it's just or fair to be sitting here today."
The lawyers handling his criminal case told him they are not permitted to handle the probate matter, he said. Haraden has claimed indigence in Cumberland County Court and two attorneys have been appointed by the state to represent him in the murder case.
Haraden asked the judge to recommend a local attorney. She declined to make a referral, and denied his request to postpone the hearing. She said Haraden already had received enough time to file a motion to continue the case.
"We are proceeding today," the judge said. "Each party must be prepared to make its case."
Haraden contended Maxine Witham wrote a will in a spiral-bound notebook which declared that she wanted to leave everything to him. That will was illegible because she had been drinking heavily when she wrote it, he claimed, adding he told her she should re-write it when she was sober.
Haraden said a document presented in court, which he believed was found by police, was in Maxine Witham's handwriting and represented her wishes. He said he had never seen the original document, but had been given a facsimile.
David Lipman, attorney for Dr. Witham, questioned whether Haraden has the appropriate credentials to determine whose handwriting wrote the document.
"You have no qualifications as a handwriting expert?" Lipman asked.
"It's definitely her handwriting," Haraden responded.
Lipman asked whether Haraden had ever seen the original document, to which Haraden responded he had not. He stated he had been unaware of its existence until he received a photocopy of it while in jail. Lipman also questioned whether Haraden would know whether the photocopy was an accurate representation of the original document.
Haraden accused Lipman of "trying to discredit" him.
Several times, Haraden interrupted the attorney mid-sentence and discussed personal matters unrelated to the issue of the will, prompting more than one rebuke from the judge.
"You need to just be quiet and listen to what Mr. Lipman is asking," Emery said.
Haraden apologized and said he did not understand the rules of court proceedings. He asked if he had time to attend law school in order to learn the rules.
"Probably not," the judge replied.
Haraden maintained that he and Maxine Witham had both consulted Rockland attorney Randal Watkinson about creating their wills, but had not completed the process. Haraden claimed that Watkinson was aware that Maxine Witham wanted to leave all of her belongings to Haraden. Watkinson did not return a call to The Courier-Gazette by press time.
Haraden said Maxine Witham had told him she wanted everything she owned to be given to him except for a few items to be given to her brother, Edwin Witham. Haraden said she told him that none of her belongings were to be given to her father, Dr. Witham, from whom he said she had been estranged for many years.
"She wanted to leave nothing to her father," Haraden said. "I just want Max's story to be here."
Dr. Witham sat quietly in the courtroom between his two attorneys. He did not testify, nor did several other witnesses who had been subpoenaed.
The issue of the validity of Maxine Witham's will is a separate case from the state's criminal case against Haraden, the judge said. If the probate court had ruled in Haraden's favor and he later was found guilty of murder, the question of whether he would have been entitled to inherit her property under Maine's felonious death statute would be considered.
Haraden wore a yellow Cumberland County Jail uniform and was guarded by two Knox County Sheriff's Department transport officers while in court. The judge permitted his handcuffs to be removed after he complained they pinched his wrists.
Christina Sobran can be reached at csobran@courierpub.com.
"Haraden apologized and said he did not understand the rules of court proceedings. He asked if he had time to attend law school in order to learn the rules.
"Probably not," the judge replied."
You forgot the "Shameless Chutzpah Alert"
He just happened to "find her" in a hotel room beaten?
OK.
"Good first attempt at demonstrating the will was generated of sound mind and body ..."
Excellent point! Are you an attorney?
But if he did murder her, it would be a terrible injustice if her estate paid the legal fees to get him off. I always thought it was disgusting that the Menedez brothers spent everything their father ever made for their defense in the first trial. They should have been barred from receiving any of their inheritance in civil court where the level of proof requrired is "preponderance of the evidence" not "reasonable doubt". Their sleasebag "lady" lawyer would not have pocketed $14 million. There would not have been a mistrial, and the Memendez brothers would have been convicted the first time, and they would never have touched their father's estate.
No, but he slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
""I am just being thrown to the wolves," Haraden said. "I don't think it's just or fair to be sitting here today."
Man,some people have nerve,don't they?
Right.
This should help the prosecutor in explaining MOTIVE
Only in Maine. What a crock!
"No, but he slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night."
ROFLMAO!
I think the state should stay out of people's private affairs. She clearly stated her intent to give him everything in the event of her unfortunate demise, even if she was a bit tipsy. Can't the courts just stay out of it?
Just, in case:
/sarcasm
In many states such "holographic" (written in the deceases own handwriting and signed) wills are not considered wills for purposes of probate.
It was done to discourage such "surprise" wills and to ENcourage people to use proper witnessing in probate.
so who gets the house...
Good save...
Nearest next of kin or the state.
She had inherited the property in 1995, according to the deed to the property, from the estate of her mother, Jakelyn Rea Frame, who died in 1993.
It took two years for the house to be probated after her mom died? How is that possible? I mean, that's just stupid!
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