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[Denise]

Canaan murder suspect faces judge

By Sharon Kiley Mack
Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

SKOWHEGAN Norridgewock lawyer John Alsop formally launched his "alternative suspect" defense Friday during a hearing for his client Shannon Atwood, 37, of Canaan, who is accused of killing two women in 2006.

Alsop attempted to raise suspicion in the murder of Cheryl Murdoch, 37, on the other alleged victim, Shirley Moon-Atwood, 35, Shannon Atwoods estranged wife.

Moon-Atwoods mother, Alicia Moon of Pittsfield, was in the courtroom, witnessing the debate over whether her daughter is dead or a murderer in hiding.

Atwood is accused of killing Murdoch, whose body was found Aug. 11, 2006, in a ditch in woods near the Canaan mobile home the couple shared. She was killed by repeated blows to the head. Atwood also has been charged with killing Moon-Atwood, who owned the home where Murdoch and Atwood were living that summer and who met Atwood when both were serving long prison terms for aggravated assault. Moon-Atwood has been missing since March 2006 and despite several extensive searches, her body has not been found.

Atwood pleaded not guilty to both charges and is being held without bail at Somerset County Jail in Skowhegan.

In court Friday, Alsop questioned the two Maine State Police detectives in charge of the investigation. Detective Jeffrey Love and Detective Bryant Jacques admitted that although Murdochs body was recovered, Moon-Atwood was not found and that there is no forensic evidence that indicates she was murdered.

Alsop said there is no body, no motive, and no forensic evidence indicating there is any crime involving Moon-Atwood in the more than 2,270 pages of evidence, interview tapes and discs that the state police have provided.

He also said that beyond the coincidence that both women were involved with Atwood, there is no evidence that Atwood murdered either woman. Alsop theorized that Moon-Atwood killed Murdoch in a jealous rage, that Atwood witnessed the murder and is covering it up.

"Hes taking the rap for her," Alsop told Justice Nancy Mills. "Hes concealing her whereabouts."

"Where is his motive?" Alsop asked the court. "Where did he kill them? How did he kill them? There is no evidence at all. But there is all the evidence in the world for Shirley Moon-Atwood to have killed [Murdoch]."

Atwood looked different in the courtroom than he did during his last court appearance in June, when he was clean shaven and short-haired. Friday, Atwood had a full, untrimmed beard and mustache, with long hair that curled around his face and head. He appeared alert and animated, participating in conversations with Alsops co-counsel, Arnold Clark.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson argued that although some of the pieces in the murder cases are "puzzling, and may be difficult to put together, the evidence is not thin."

Benson said, "Every one of the explanations that [Atwood] offered for the disappearance of his wife is a lie." Furthermore, Benson said, Moon-Atwood could not be on the run because she murdered Murdoch because she disappeared before Murdoch was killed. "Every aspect of his behavior is inconsistent with having a wife alive," Benson said.

At the end of the 3-hour hearing Friday, Mills said she would take the probable cause issue under advisement and deal with Atwoods bail at a later date.

A trial likely will be held in mid-2008, and it will be watched closely as only the second case in Maine involving a murder trial without a corpse.

James Hicks of Etna was convicted in 1983 of killing his first wife, Jennie Cyr Hicks, despite the lack of a body or remains, and served six years in prison.

Benson said that the case of Moon-Atwood is "unusual because there is no body, but [that is] not unheard of."

Benson said Atwoods behavior before and after Murdoch was killed indicate guilt.

According to the original police affidavit, police were led to the woods where Murdochs body had been discarded after learning that Atwood had telephoned a former girlfriend, Rachel Hooker of Starks, on July 27, 2006, using Murdochs cell phone. Atwood was crying and emotional when he called Hooker and told her that he loved her, had made out a will, and was leaving all his possessions to her. He gave her directions to his location, which is the area where police later found the body.

The day after Atwood called Hooker, she went to check on him and found him at his Route 23 home, sleeping. In a conversation that day, the affidavit stated, Atwood told Hooker that he was going to hell and that she did not know what it was like to kill a woman.

According to Murdochs mother, Atwood was supposed to drive her daughter to Arizona on July 27. Murdoch called her mother about 11 a.m. and said the couple was packed and ready to leave, the affidavit stated. Murdoch was reported missing three days later when she failed to call or show up in Arizona.

Moon-Atwood was found to be missing during the Murdoch murder investigation. Police subsequently found her drivers license, wedding band, wallet and glasses in a garbage bag at the Atwood home.

Benson maintained that Atwood launched a pattern of behavior meant to cover up his wifes disappearance: alibis for her disappearance, forgeries of her name by Atwood on checks, disability benefit forms and vehicle titles, and conversations with others in an attempt to trick people into believing she was staying at a remote camp or with relatives.

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[Denise]

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One murder charge dismissed in Canaan case

By Sharon Kiley Mack
Friday, November 16, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

SKOWHEGAN, Maine The state has dropped one of two murder charges against Shannon Atwood, 37, of Canaan, who has been accused of killing his estranged wife, Shirley Moon-Atwood, 35, and his girlfriend Cheryl Murdoch, 37, in 2006.

Count 1, the murder charge involving Moon-Atwood, was dismissed Thursday. Although detectives discovered Murdochs body in August 2006, Moon-Atwoods body has never been found. She last was seen in March 2006.

Atwoods trial for the murder of Moon-Atwood had been scheduled for February, and the Murdoch trial was planned for this summer. It is unclear now whether the Murdoch trail now will be moved to February.

Atwood remains at Somerset County Jail, unable to post the $200,000 bail.

"One down, one to go," commented defense attorney John Alsop. "The state was going for a two-for-one deal, and that is not the way it works." Alsop said he believed all along that there was no evidence Moon-Atwood was dead.

The states case had been questioned from the start. Most recently, Justice Nancy Mills ruled that it was rife with hearsay and circumstantial evidence.

Assistant Attorney General William Stokes said Thursday that once Mills ruled earlier this month that the two cases should be tried separately, the state decided to dismiss the Moon-Atwood case without prejudice. That means, Stokes said, that the case can be brought back before a grand jury at any time. He would not confirm that the Moon-Atwood case was the weaker of the two, particularly since there is no body.

"It was the states position that the cases should be tried together," he said.

Alsop said there is no body, no motive, and no forensic evidence indicating there is any crime involving Moon-Atwood in the more than 2,270 pages of evidence, interview tapes and discs that the Maine State Police have provided. He also said that beyond the coincidence that both women were involved with Atwood, there is no evidence that Atwood murdered either woman. Alsop theorized that Moon-Atwood killed Murdoch in a jealous rage, that Atwood witnessed the murder and is covering it up.

In testimony last month during Atwoods bail hearing, two state police detectives offered no forensic evidence that would link Atwood to the murders. They provided a list of witnesses who provided conversations with Atwood, during which he variously said the women were away or staying elsewhere.

At the bail hearing, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson argued that although some of the pieces in the murder cases are "puzzling, and may be difficult to put together, the evidence is not thin."

Benson said, "Every one of the explanations that [Atwood] offered for the disappearance of his wife is a lie." Furthermore, Benson said, Moon-Atwood could not be on the run for murdering Murdoch, because she disappeared before Murdoch was killed. "Every aspect of his behavior is inconsistent with having a wife alive," Benson said.

According to the original police affidavit, police were led to the woods where Murdochs body had been left after learning that Atwood had telephoned a former girlfriend, Rachel Hooker of Starks, on July 27, 2006, using Murdochs cell phone. Atwood was crying and emotional when he called Hooker and told her that he loved her, had made out a will, and was leaving all of his possessions to her. He gave her directions to his location, which was the area where police later found the body.

The day after Atwood called Hooker, she went to check on him and found him at his Route 23 home, sleeping. In a conversation that day, the affidavit stated, Atwood told Hooker that he was going to hell and that she did not know what it was like to kill a woman.

According to Murdochs mother, Atwood was supposed to drive her daughter to Arizona on July 27. Murdoch called her mother about 11 a.m. and said the couple was packed and ready to leave, the affidavit stated. Murdoch was reported missing three days later when she failed to call or show up in Arizona. It was determined that she died of multiple blunt force trauma to the head.

Moon-Atwood was found to be missing during the Murdoch murder investigation. Police subsequently found her drivers license, wedding band, wallet and eyeglasses in a garbage bag at the Atwood home.

Reached Thursday at the familys Pittsfield-based business, Moon Trucking, Moon-Atwoods mother, Alicia Moon, would not comment on the dismissal.

[Denise]

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Atwood guilty of murder

SKOWHEGAN - Family and friends of the victim wept Wednesday when Shannon Atwood was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in the summer of 2006.

Justice Nancy Mills delivered her decision in Somerset County Superior Court following a five-day, jury-waived trial last week.

Atwood was convicted of murdering Cheryl Murdoch, 38, and leaving her bludgeoned body in the woods of rural Canaan, where police discovered it Aug. 11, 2006. The charge that he also murdered his estranged wife, Shirley Moon Atwood, 35, was dropped in Nov. 2007. She has been missing since April 2006.

"Thankfully we have a guilty verdict and justice has come from the system," Lucille Hoxie, the victim's mother, said after the verdict was read. "We can all rest a little easy. (Atwood) will never be able to hurt or murder another woman. Our hope is he will never leave prison again."

Defense attorney John Alsop said the judge was obviously "compelled by the evidence.  That's the way the system works."

When asked if he thought his client was guilty, he said: "He always has pled not guilty . . . The thing I do believe in, is our system of justice."

Prosecutor Andrew Benson said he was pleased with the verdict and has asked for a forensic examination of Atwood as part of the pre-sentencing investigation. He said that with Atwoodâ's "personality characteristics" he was at risk of (being involved in) future dangerous situations given his prior record.

Atwood, in 1993, was sentenced to serve six years in jail with all but three years suspended for attacking and choking nearly to death a Somerset County hairdresser, Jennifer Nickerson Steward.

The penalty for a murder conviction is 25 years to life in prison, Benson said. He expects it may be at least 60 days before a sentence is handed down.

Atwood registered no reaction when the verdict was read.

In a lengthy decision, Mills praised defense attorneys John Alsop and Arnold Clark for their diligence on the case and then listed issue-by-issue the how she reached her decision.

Mills said that despite defense arguments to the contrary, the witnesses in the case were credible.

"They may lead lives very different from our own, but that does not mean they are not worthy of belief," she said. She said that because they may have been nervous "does not mean they're lying and after 17 years, I know the difference."

Mills singled out the testimony of several witnesses, including Leslie Miner and Rachel Hooker and said she found credible their recounting of instances when Atwood had talked to them on the phone.

Mills, reading from her notes, alluded to facts about how the body was found, that Murdoch died of blunt force trauma and that "a significant amount of force was used,"that were part of her decision-making process.

The level of decomposition coincided with the July 27, 2006 time frame of when Murdoch was last heard from and Aug. 11, when the body was found. She said she took into account Atwood's cigarette butts found at a fire pit a short distance from the crime scene and rope at the crime scene that was the same as rope found at the home Atwood shared with Shirley Moon Atwood and later with Cheryl Murdoch.

Mill said she was satisfied that a Waterville woman was mistaken in her belief she saw Murdoch after July 27 in Waterville.

Of the alternative suspect theory that she had allowed the defense to explore, Mills said there was no "credible evidence" that Murdoch's ex-husband, Donald, or Shirley Moon Atwood -or anybody else other than the defendant, played a role in the murder.

Mills said there was no evidence to support the defense's theory that Shirley Atwood, missing since April 2006, could have committed the murder and may be hiding out. Shirley Atwood was not available to be involved in the death or to be leaving evidence at the home she once shared with her husband, Shannon Atwood, the judge said.

Mills offered high praise for investigators, especially for Detective Jeffrey Love, whom she said didextensive and exhaustive investigation into the disappearance of Shirley Moon Atwood before she was ruled out as a suspect. She said he checked credit cards, food stamps, stores, witnesses, reports of sightings and, she suspected, would have gone door-to-door, if he could have before eliminating her.

Mills also referred to Shannon Atwood's incriminating tape-recorded interviews with police, during which he said "all your leads lead right back to me," and "I've been to (expletive deleted) prison and out for 12 years . . . I'm pretty proud of that . . . and I ain't going back."

She also referred to his "holding a weapon positioned to fire" at state police in Aug. 13 and to Atwood's interviews with state police on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, during which she said the "tenor of those two interviews (changed) dramatically . . . like a completely different person."

Just because the state police remained with their original suspect, Shannon Atwood, did not mean the investigation was of poor quality, Mills said. "It means when you look at the flow . . . all the arrows point to Mr. Atwood," or as stated, "all your leads lead back to me," Mills said.

And finally, she said, evidence says Atwood murdered Cheryl Murdoch using extreme force, disposed of her body, later called Rachel Hooker while smoking a cigarette at the fire pit near where the body was found.

Atwood was ordered held without bail pending a sentencing investigation as soon as the defense council is prepared, Mills said.

Benson said the search for Shirley Moon Atwood remains a live investigation.

Shirley Atwood's sister, Candy Daniels of Idaho, was satisfied: "We are so glad we have justice for Cheryl. I'm glad he will stay behind bars for the rest of his life. Hopefully he will tell us where Shirley's body is so we can get closure."

Attorneys in Somerset and Kennebec Counties did not find Mills' guilty verdict surprising.

"I haven't followed all the evidence that closely, but based on what I know, it not surprising," said Robert E. Sandy of Sherman and Sandy in Waterville. "Circumstantial evidence that is persuasive is pretty much the same as direct evidence . . . . The defense did an admirable job to provide such an effective response."

Skowhegan Attorney Warren Shay said it was tough case to call.

"I'm not surprised, but it was a close case. I would not have been terribly surprised by a not-guilty verdict either," Shay said. "Really, in the courtroom, it is what the judge or the jury sees. To just read about it you don't get a true picture . . . . The key is how it sounds."

Waterville Attorney Pamela J. Ames, said it was difficult to decide which way the verdict was going to go.

She said that when Mills ruled that the alternative suspect theory could come into evidence, it was obvious the defense was going to be given every opportunity to press any theories that they had to make sure the court had a "complete picture."

"I've (worked on) circumstantial evidence cases; they're not slam dunk cases," Ames said.

[Denise]

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Waterville Woman Organizes Search For Missing Woman

Web Editor: Chris Facchini   

Cherrie Hight is organizing a group of people to search for Shirley Moon Atwood, who has been missing since 2006. This month, a judge convicted Atwoods ex-husband, Shannon Atwood, of killing another woman, Cheryl Murdoch. Police suspect Atwood also murdered his ex-wife but have never been able to find her body. Now Hight is trying to get a group of people together to search for Shirley Atwood's body on Saint Albans Mountain. Hight did not know Shirley Moon Atwood, but was friends with Cheryl Murdoch. She says she formed a bond with Moon Atwoods family during the murder trial. "Then i realized my job wasn't done, we still have another woman out there." Hight is trying to organize a group of people to search on Saint Albans Mountain on July 26,27, and 28. She says she heard that Atwood was on the mountain the day Murdoch's body was found. She wants to search for Shirley Atwoods body there too.

"A needle in a haystack and hoping to god and praying to god that we're going to find that needle," she remarked. Hight asked state police for help but they are still actively investigating this case. Lt. Gary Wright says anyone is legally entitled to search, but he would rather that people leave the searching to the professionals.

"It's a public safety issue if people are out and about in areas that they're not familiar with because that in itself requires an emergency response if someone gets hurt," Wright said. Wright added that state police have trained evidence gatherers, game wardens, and medical personnel avaiable for searches.

Hight admits she is no search expert, and says that's why she's reaching out to people for help.

"We're not talking about anything but a missing woman and I'm asking for help, professional, non-professional and everything else." Hight is is asking anyone who may be interested in searching to come to the library at the Boys and Girls Club of Waterville between 1pm and 3pm Friday.