A Washington County woman was convicted last week of a brutal 2022 murder in Pleasant Point, but the jury couldn’t agree on whether a man also charged in the killing was guilty and a judge was forced to declare a mistrial.
A jury on Dec. 20 convicted Kailie Brackett, 39, of depraved indifference murder in the death of Kimberly Neptune in her apartment in April 2022. The charge carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. The court declared a mistrial for Donnell Dana, 40, when the jury could not reach a verdict after three days of deliberations, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea said Thursday.
Zainea, who prosecuted the case, said the state will reassess the charges against Dana and make a decision about retrying him. She declined to answer questions about why the jury struggled to convict him.
David Bate, Brackett’s attorney, said he respects the decision of the jury but was “extremely surprised” by the verdict.
“We will be putting an appeal together as soon as possible,” he said.
Dana’s defense attorney did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Brackett and Dana were charged with murder a week after Neptune’s brother found her body in her apartment wrapped in a blanket. An affidavit from state police said she was covered in blood and had been stabbed nearly 500 times.
Both Brackett and Dana pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Brackett, who had a child with Dana, told police she dropped off her son at Dana’s mother’s house the night of the crime, according to a police affidavit, and her attorneys said Brackett was at home when Neptune was killed. Dana had lived with Neptune for a couple of years before 2021.
However, according to an affidavit by Maine State Police Detective Lawrence Anderson, both Brackett and Dana also told several people before their arrests, including those at the post office and the Perry Farmers Union store, that Brackett stabbed Neptune, according to the affidavit.
“Brackett was talking to anyone who would listen to her,” the document states.
According to the affidavit, Brackett and Dana had planned to rob Neptune for drugs, including Xanax. In the aftermath of the murder, Dana allegedly told an acquaintance that the robbery turned into a fight that got out of control.
Neptune was a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, which sponsored a $10,000 reward for information about her death.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
