In the late summer of 1965, the quiet community of Augusta, Maine, was disturbed by a brutal act of violence that would remain a topic of legal debate for years to come. On August 14, 73-year-old Lorenzo Troyer was discovered in his home, suffering from severe head injuries. It was evident that he had been viciously beaten with a blunt object. Rushed to a local hospital, Troyer succumbed to his injuries and passed away the following day, turning a violent assault into a homicide investigation.
The initial police inquiry uncovered several leads, but for a time, no arrests were made, and the case of who killed Lorenzo Troyer was without a clear suspect.
The investigation took a significant turn months later and in another state. In January 1966, a man named Richard Steeves was apprehended by police in Manchester, New Hampshire, in connection with a stolen car. During his interrogation, Steeves began to confess to a string of violent crimes, including five murders across multiple states. Among his confessions was the murder of Lorenzo Troyer in Augusta the previous August. Steeves also admitted to another murder in Maine, one in New Hampshire, and two in Ohio. This confession provided the breakthrough the Maine authorities had been seeking in the Troyer case.
Following his confession, a grand jury in Kennebec County, Maine, returned an indictment on February 3, 1966, formally charging Richard Steeves with the murder of Lorenzo Troyer. However, the path to trial was anything but straightforward. Steeves was first tried for the New Hampshire murder, where he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state prison for life. He was later transferred to Ohio to face charges for the two murders he confessed to there, where he again entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, which the court accepted.
Despite the indictment in Maine, Richard Steeves was never brought to trial for the death of Lorenzo Troyer. Years passed as he was confined in New Hampshire and faced legal proceedings in other states. The defense argued that the significant delay had prejudiced Steeves's ability to receive a fair trial, citing the death or unavailability of important witnesses and potential suspects, as well as missing physical evidence. Ultimately, the courts agreed, and the indictment against Richard Steeves for the murder of Lorenzo Troyer was dismissed due to the violation of his right to a speedy trial. While a suspect was identified and had even confessed, the legal complexities of the case meant that no one was ever convicted for the violent death of Lorenzo Troyer.
