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BELFAST, Maine — Thomas Bonfanti, a Northfield man accused of killing three people and severely wounding a fourth in a February 2020 shooting spree, was found guilty Wednesday evening on all counts.
Bonfanti, 65, reacted stoically, staring straight ahead while seated at the defense table as the verdict was announced. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for nearly 2 1/2 hours before finding Bonfanti guilty.
He testified earlier Wednesday, telling the jury that he shot two victims by accident. He was showing off his Keltec magnum pistol at Sam Powers’ home when it went off, striking Powers, he said.
Then he went to Jennifer Bryant Flynn’s home in Machias and shot her by accident during an argument, he said. He had his gun because Flynn’s dog was snarling at him, he testified. The gun went off when Flynn threw something that hit his arm as he was holding the gun.
Bonfanti said that he then went to a home in Machias shared by Regina Hall Long and Shawn Currey. He shot them both after his gun fell out of his coat pocket and they jumped toward him to try to grab the gun, he said. That’s different from Long’s testimony of the events in which she said Bonfanti got the gun out of his coat after he stopped by for what she thought was a social visit. She’d given him a cup of coffee. But then he held the gun to her neck and, after she told him they could talk things over if he put the gun down, he shot her in the neck.
Bonfanti was charged with murder in the shootings of Flynn, 49, of Machias; Powers, 33, of Jonesboro; and Currey, 57, of Machias, all of whom were shot at their homes. Bonfanti also was charged with one count of aggravated attempted murder and one count of elevated aggravated assault in the shooting of Long, now 51, who was dating Currey and was shot the same morning. Long survived her injuries.
