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Maine Man Allegedly Slaughters Ex And Her New Boyfriend So 'No One Else Could Have Her'
Mark Penley allegedly previously told a different ex-girlfriend he broke into Heather Bickford's home and watched her while she was asleep with new boyfriend Dana Hill.
A Maine man shot and killed an ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in a vicious slaying motivated by jealousy.
Mark Penley, 49, has been named in an affidavit as the alleged killer of Heather Bickford and her boyfriend, Dana Hill. Police say that Penley opened fire on the two at Bickford's South Paris apartment on January 1. Penley himelf alerted the police after the killing. They found him keeping Bickford's unharmed infant and 8-year-old child company until officers arrived, reports local Maine newspaper The Bangor Daily News.
A bloody baseball bat was also found at the scene, but an autopsy later confirmed the two were killed by fatal gunshot wounds, according to the outlet.
Bickford's landlord told investigators that she had attempted to appear in court on New Year's Eve, fearing that Penley had been following her, according to documents. The documents also claimed that Penley had prepared to kill Bickford so that “no one else could have her." Witnesses listed in the document discussed Penley's extreme jealousy leading up to the alleged murder.
Bickford and Penley had dated for 10 years before they broke up this past May, according to The Portland Press Herald.
Penley had told a different ex-girlfriend that he had driven to Bickford's house on July 4, entered while she and Hill slept, and planned to eventually harm her.
“When I’m ready, I’ll do it,” Penley told the unnamed ex, according to the affidavit.
Bickford had told police that she feared Penley on December 28, days before the killing, and that he had harassed her since the breakup.
Bail for Penley was denied on January 4. He has been forbidden from having contact with Bickford's family members, according to The Portland Press Herald.
Hill and Bickford's families are not offering a comment on the situation at this time.
A vigil for the victims was held at Moore Park in South Paris, Maine at 6 pm on January 5, The Bangor Daily News reports. A GoFundMe page to offer financial assistance to the children of the victims has raised almost $7,000 as of January 7.
[Photo: Oxford County Jail]
