Cold Case: Starlette Vining 39 msg Sept. 1998 Presque Isle ME/George Jaime Sr Guilty/murder

[Nut44x4]

County police requesting public’s help in finding woman who has been missing for 13 years
7-8-12

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/07/news/aroostook/county-police-requesting-publics-help-in-13-year-old-missing-persons-case/

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Law enforcement agencies in Aroostook County are asking for the public’s help in the case of a woman missing for nearly 13 years.
 
Maine State Police and the Presque Isle Police Department are seeking information regarding the whereabouts of Starlette Vining.

Vining has been missing from the Presque Isle area since September 1998.
 
She would now be 52 years old.
 
Maine State Police Detective Joshua Haines said in a written statement Friday evening that Vining was reported missing in October 2006.
 ::snipping2::

MORE at link
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Detective Adam Stoutamyer with Maine State Police at 532-5400 or 800-924-2261.

[Nut44x4]

Police search Presque Isle residence once frequented by woman missing 13 years


By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff

 Posted July 09, 2012, at 4:59 p.m.

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/09/news/aroostook/police-search-presque-isle-residence-once-frequented-by-woman-missing-13-years/

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Law enforcement agencies in Aroostook County executed a search warrant Monday afternoon at a residence that Maine State Police believe once was frequented by a woman who has been missing for nearly 13 years.
 
The location in Presque Isle that could be connected to the Starlette Vining case is in an alleyway at the corner of State and Main streets, next to The Cubby Thrift Store. Police are not releasing the name of the building owner.
 ::snipping2::

Maine State Police Detective Joshua Haines said that Vining was reported missing in October 2006.
According to Vining’s missing person profile on the state police website, Vining last worked at Smythe’s IGA in Presque Isle. She last appeared for work there in October 1998. Described as a dependable employee, Vining suddenly stopped going to work and never returned to pick up her last paycheck.
 
Vining’s former husband and her three now-adult children told police that they last saw her in 1998.
 ::snipping2::
more at link

[Nut44x4]

Police charge Presque Isle man with murder in death of woman missing 13 years


By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff

 Posted July 12, 2012, at 5:54 p.m.
Last modified July 12, 2012, at 8:43 p.m.

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Police arrested a 75-year-old Presque Isle man Thursday afternoon and charged him with murder in connection with the death of Starlett Vining, who has been missing for nearly 13 years.
 
State police, working with the Presque Isle Police Department, arrested George Jaime Sr. about 3:45 p.m at The Star City Trading Post.
 ::snipping2::

Vining’s body has not been found, McCausland said.
 
The trading post, a pawn shop, is located in a large apartment house at the corner of Main and State streets in Presque Isle, which police have been searching since Monday.
 
Jaime was taken to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton and will make his initial appearance at the Houlton courthouse on Friday.
 ::snipping2::

Vining and Jaime were in a relationship in 1998, according to McCausland.
 
The arrest was made Thursday after consultation with the attorney general’s office. Details about the investigation will be contained in an affidavit released from the courthouse on Friday.
more   ::snipping2::
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/12/news/aroostook/police-charge-presque-isle-man-with-murder-in-death-of-woman-missing-13-years/

[Sister]

Police charge Presque Isle man with murder in death of woman missing 13 years


By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff

 Posted July 12, 2012, at 5:54 p.m.
Last modified July 12, 2012, at 8:43 p.m.

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Police arrested a 75-year-old Presque Isle man Thursday afternoon and charged him with murder in connection with the death of Starlett Vining, who has been missing for nearly 13 years.
 
State police, working with the Presque Isle Police Department, arrested George Jaime Sr. about 3:45 p.m at The Star City Trading Post.
 ::snipping2::

Vining’s body has not been found, McCausland said.
 
The trading post, a pawn shop, is located in a large apartment house at the corner of Main and State streets in Presque Isle, which police have been searching since Monday.
 
Jaime was taken to the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton and will make his initial appearance at the Houlton courthouse on Friday.
 ::snipping2::

Vining and Jaime were in a relationship in 1998, according to McCausland.
 
The arrest was made Thursday after consultation with the attorney general’s office. Details about the investigation will be contained in an affidavit released from the courthouse on Friday.
more   ::snipping2::
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/12/news/aroostook/police-charge-presque-isle-man-with-murder-in-death-of-woman-missing-13-years/

This is just sad all the way around.  The article said the family was not close -- yipes, it took 8 years to report her missing.  I am just so thankful that I have a different (though not perfect by any means) kind of family.

[Nut44x4]

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/11/04/news/aroostook/jury-selection-begins-in-county-murder-trial-though-no-body-ever-found/?ref=polbeat

Posted Nov. 04, 2013, at 5:03 p.m.
HOULTON, Maine — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a Presque Isle pawn shop owner charged in the death of a woman who has been missing since 1998.
 
George Jaime Sr., 76, appeared in court with his attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor, as jury selection for his Nov. 12 trial began in Aroostook County Superior Court in Houlton.
 
One hundred and twelve prospective jurors were called to the courthouse to fill out a questionnaire that was reviewed by Justice Robert Murray. By late afternoon, he had excused 34 individuals from service and planned to continue reviewing potential jurors on Tuesday.
 
Though Vining’s body has not been found, Jaime has been charged with intentional or knowing murder. He has been held at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton since his arrest and has never been allowed a bail hearing.
 
Vining and Jaime were in a relationship in 1998, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
 
According to Vining’s missing-person profile on the state police website, she last worked at Smythe’s IGA in Presque Isle. That store closed in July 2007. Described as a dependable employee, Vining suddenly stopped going to work in the fall of 1998 and never returned to pick up her last paycheck.
 

[MuffyBee]

It's interesting the article mentions Jaime has been held in jail for over a year since his arrest on July 12, 2012 and has never been allowed a bail hearing.  Maybe he isn't eligible for bonding out, given the circumstances, I don't know. Perhaps we can learn more about the case in the immediate future.  That bit just caught my eye and it raises questions.  Of course, it could be the way the article is written...
 
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/11/04/news/aroostook/jury-selection-begins-in-county-murder-trial-though-no-body-ever-found/?ref=polbeat

 
Jaime was arrested on July 12, 2012, at The Star City Trading Post, the pawn shop he operated on Main Street in Presque Isle.

 

Though Vining’s body has not been found, Jaime has been charged with intentional or knowing murder. He has been held at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton since his arrest and has never been allowed a bail hearing.
 

[Nut44x4]

Indeed, that is a long time to stay in a County Jail.

[Nut44x4]

Jurors find Presque Isle pawn shop owner guilty of murder

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/11/15/news/aroostook/jurors-begin-deliberations-in-presque-isle-murder-trial/
Nov. 15, 2013, at 10:32 p.m.






HOULTON, Maine — Jurors on Friday evening found a Presque Isle pawn shop owner guilty of intentional and knowing murder in the case of a woman who has been missing for 15 years.
 
The body of Starlette Vining has never been found, but George Jaime Sr., 76, was arrested last year and charged with murder in connection with her disappearance.
 
Jurors deliberated approximately two hours before taking a break for dinner at 5 p.m. Friday. The verdict was delivered before 9 p.m.
 
The trial began Tuesday with Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson telling jurors in his opening statements that Jaime killed Vining, his live-in girlfriend, in a drunken rage in October 1998. Vining was 38 years old when she was last seen alive.
 
The accused killer’s son, Ted Jaime, and his friend, James Campbell, both testified earlier this week that George Jaime told them he stabbed Vining to death, dismembered the body and incinerated it in a commercial furnace in the basement of the pawn shop and apartment complex he owned. Ted Jaime also testified that he saw Vining’s corpse in his father’s apartment, and both he and Campbell said they helped clean up the murder scene.
Ted Jaime’s ex-wife, Parise Voisine, said on the witness stand Wednesday that her former husband had told her about cleaning up the murder scene and about the dismemberment.
 
Ethel Jaime, Ted Jaime’s mother and the accused killer’s ex-wife, testified that her son had told her several times about George Jaime murdering a woman and about Ted Jaime’s participation in cleaning up the crime scene, although he never mentioned Vining’s name.