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AUBURN — Percy Turner, a retired Maine state trooper will be the guest speaker at the Androscoggin Historical Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27.
Turner patrolled western Maine for almost three decades. During that time, he learned of the bizarre account concerning the homicides of Dr. James Littlefield and his wife, Lydia.
Turner has investigated the mystery himself, and he will relate the sequence of events at the society’s Davis-Wagg Museum, on the third floor of the County Building, 2 Turner St. Entrance is on the Court Street side, and an elevator is available.
The town of Paris made national news in 1937 when the bodies of the doctor and his wife were discovered in the doctor’s car in New Jersey, where it had been driven by 17-year-old Paul Dwyer.
Dwyer would give authorities several different versions of how the murders came to pass, but his initial admission of guilt along with the physical evidence built a conviction and landed him in the Maine State Prison.
The case is muddied, however, by the fact a deputy sheriff, Francis Carroll, was accused of incest with his daughter, which the doctor had learned about.
The twists and turns of the evidence and corrupt law enforcement ended up with Carroll’s conviction of the doctor’s murder. Therefore, while only one could have done it, two people were convicted of the same crime.
Admission for the program is free, although donations are accepted.
For more information about the society, call 207-784-0586.
