Several of us have known Dennis for over 20 years. It is hard to
describe everything that makes up a person on a webpage, but here is
some information about Dennis anyway.
Independent filmmakers Richard Searls and Molly O'Neill have produced a
17 minute tape of excerpts from an interview with Dennis in prison on
22 March 2004. If all goes well, they plan to produce a quality,
independent film.
The 36 Megabyte video clip can be viewed with Apple's Quicktime (which
works on PCs or Macs) or other video viewing software. The file
is large, so this option is realistically only available for those
with broadband Internet connections. Click
here for video. Quicktime can be downloaded here.
If you want to see the entire video and want to see the VHS version,
contact Trial and Error about borrowing a copy. If you would like
just the audio from the clip, click here for the audio from the video clip. If you just
want to see Dennis' words, click here for the transcript
of the video.
From Dennis Dechaine, Trial Testimony: "I'm not
exactly sure when we
left, but it was Friday prior to the fourth of July…. I was going to
see my brothers principally, but we were having a rare family reunion.
Basically, the Dechaine side of the family was congregating for a dual
purpose celebration; one was the 75th birthday of my uncle Joe, and the
second was for the Fourth of July. This occurred on Long Lake in
Sinclair, Maine….It was a great week. It was a great weekend … In terms
of cousins, there were a great number of cousins from all over the
country that arrived that I hadn't seen in years…. I stayed at my
brother Philip['s] who owns a home on Long Lake also in Sinclair. … we
drove down via Route one instead of the interstate. I wanted to show
Nancy that part of Maine. She hadn't been up there yet. [TR pp
1191-1195]
From Carol Waltman: "I graduated from high school in 1978 and
my 10th reunion was at a local club on Thursday, the 7th, and it had a
large TV. Some of us were looking at the news, and then there was a
story about a murder of a young girl down South; and then we saw the
arrest of our friend Dennis and people in the room were shocked. Dennis
was always the peacemaker." (phone call 2/9/03)
From Carol Waltman: "Every summer, Madawaska has an Acadian
fesitival and they celebrate a Madawaska family every summer, by having
a family reunion for that family. In July 1988, Dennis had stopped by
my crafts booth... must have been Monday or Tuesday, July 4th or 5th…
and I gave him a few things; and he was very happy. Then he left for
his home in Bowdoin." (phone call 2/9/03)
From Steve Young: " He had lots of interest, including
organic farming. When he lived in Bowdoinham, he packaged and sold
locally Maine signature products including Christmas wreaths,
blueberries. And also sold mail order, via UPS. He had entrepreneurial
skills and was a hard worker very focused."
"My parents loved Dennis and he came to our home many times.
He visited with us that fateful July 1988. My sister, Elizabeth, lives
in Wiscasset and heard the news of Dennis' arrest on the television and
she called us. I then called Dennis in jail. We were all devastated."
(phone conversation 12 February 2003)
