Alan James Samson

Lewiston Journal
Lewiston, Maine
December 9, 1982
p. 1 & 12

Final Arguments Given in Samson Murder Trial
by Jason Perry

The same jury that convicted Alan Samson of murder three years ago is deciding this afternoon whether he suffered from a mental disease when he shot and killed his father and brother, and thus shouldn't be held responsible for the killings.

The trial of Alan J. Samson, 20, has lasted for two weeks in Androscoggin County Superior Court, and concluded today with the attorneys in the case presenting their final arguments, and Justice Louis Scholnik instructing the jury on the law.

On Monday, the jury found Samson guilty of murdering his father, Joseph Samson, and his brother, Curtis, at their Turner home November 2, 1981. But Samson has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity to the murders, so the trial has continued into a second phase, in which his defense attorney, E. James Burke, has maintained that Samson suffered from a mental disease at the time of the shooting.

Testifying during the trial have been several psychiatrists, who have told the court they diagnosed Samson's disease as schizophrenia.

But Assistant Attorney General Herbert Bunker has argued that the actions of Samson before and after he killed his father and brother weren't consistent with schizophrenia.

In their summations pitches to the jury this morning, each attorney reviewed and interpreted the evidence given throughout the trial, trying to convince the jurors of the Samson's mental state.

Bunker recounted testimony of those who saw Samson before and after the killings, and neither of them described him as in an "active psychotic state", Bunker said.

According to testimony, Alan Samson was at his brother's house on the night of the killings, and was driven home by his sister-in-law. "Cathy Samson was the last person to see him (before the killings)," Bunker said, and she testified that Alan appeared calm, and not upset, when she took him home.

The murders apparently occured less than a half hour after she left him off, testimony showed.

But defense attorney Burke noted that while at his brother's house, Alan lifted their infant child, shook the baby, and said "I'm gonna kill you."

And even though he stopped shaking the child when told to do so by his brother, thus exhibiting some control over his own actions, Burke posed for the jury, "Could he in his own mind have controlled himself ... without someone reaching into his world and saying, 'Stop that Alan.'"

But Bunker noted that the person first on the scene after the shooting took Samson's pulse, and it was not highly elevated.

Also, after the killings, when Samson was in jail, he said his brother killed his father, then himself. "He clearly appreciated the wrongfulness of killing," Bunker insisted, because he gave an excuse, saying someone else did the killing.

Bunker also maintained that schizophrenia is not customarily a disease that causes people to kill others. "Schizophrenics are not dangerous people, as a rule," Bunker told the jurors.

If the jury finds Samson criminally responsible for the murders he committed, he would most likely be sentenced to prison.

Burke pleaded to the jury, "to hold him criminally responsible would compound the tragedy."

But according to the law, if Samson is found innocent by reason of insanity, he would be committed to the Augusta Mental Health Institute, until a time when he can prove he is sane.

By convicting Samson of murder, Burke said, the jury has ruled that "the state takes control of Alan Samson's life. But which way does the control go?", he posed to the jury.

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Sun Journal
Lewiston, Maine
March 28, 2001
p. A4

Alan J. Samson
1962 - 2001

PORTLAND -- Alan J. Samson, 39, of Turner, died Friday Mar. 23, at Mercy Hospital following a long illness.

He was born in Lewiston on Jan. 21, 1962, the son of Joseph R. and Arlene (Hinkley) Samson. He attended Leavitt High School, class of 1980. His employed included prestressed concrete and property management. He enjoyed fishing and automobiles.

He is survived by his mother of Turner; and two nieces, Heather and Danyelle.

He was predeceased by his father; and two brothers, Joseph L. and Curtis J.