In the small town of South Paris, Maine, the morning of April 1, 1998, brought a tragic end to the life of 23-year-old Sara Beth Raymond. A former member of the Army National Guard and an employee at Copp Motors in Cumberland, Sara was a mother to two young daughters, both under the age of two.
In the pre-dawn hours, a chilling phone call was made to the Oxford County Sheriff's Office. On the other end of the line was Sara's husband, 36-year-old James Raymond, a former deputy sheriff.
He confessed to having just shot his wife in their basement apartment on Market Square. When law enforcement arrived at the scene just minutes later, they were met with a horrific sight. Sara had been fatally shot.
James Raymond had turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was in grave condition. He was rushed to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where he succumbed to his injuries two days later. The couple's two young children were found in another room, physically unharmed, and were subsequently placed in the care of their mother's family.
Investigations into the tragedy revealed that the couple, who had been married for four years, had been experiencing marital difficulties. The incident was a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of domestic violence, marking one of 26 homicides in Maine that year, a number of which were domestic in nature.
